Department of Numbers

Reno, Nevada Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Reno-Sparks, Nevada metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.

Reno, Nevada Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for Reno is 3.15 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. The chart below shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Reno HPI series.1 Median household income data for Reno is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Reno, Nevada Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 99.5
December 2009 104.8
September 2009 108.0
June 2009 115.2
March 2009 123.2

Reno, Nevada Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for Reno is 18.74 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Reno. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Reno median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Reno, Nevada Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 94.8
December 2009 100.0
September 2009 103.0
June 2009 109.8
March 2009 117.4

Reno, Nevada Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Reno, Nevada and calculating the mortgage 30% of that income could afford. Traditionally, 30% of income is the maximum amount a homeowner could use towards a home loan. Inferred affordable loan values are calculated from ACS median household income and average monthly mortgage rates.

Inferred Affordable Mortgage

Date Inferred Mortgage
May 2010 $271,981
April 2010 $265,554
March 2010 $269,505
February 2010 $268,891
January 2010 $267,670
December 2009 $270,738
November 2009 $272,293
October 2009 $270,121
September 2009 $266,760
August 2009 $262,870
July 2009 $261,984
June 2009 $256,196
May 2009 $272,918

1. Specifically, FHFA data is from the non seasonally adjusted, all-transactions quarterly series.

2. Income data for the previous year is carried into the following year prior to the release of new income data.