Department of Numbers

New York, New York Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.

New York, New York Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for New York is 5.88 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 New York HPI series.1 Median household income data for New York is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

New York, New York Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 144.3
December 2009 145.8
September 2009 147.0
June 2009 150.6
March 2009 154.3

New York, New York Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for New York is 27.82 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for New York. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the New York median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

New York, New York Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 127.7
December 2009 129.0
September 2009 130.0
June 2009 133.2
March 2009 136.5

New York, New York Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for New York, New York 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 $305,341
April 2010 $298,126
March 2010 $302,561
February 2010 $301,872
January 2010 $300,502
December 2009 $303,947
November 2009 $305,691
October 2009 $303,253
September 2009 $299,480
August 2009 $295,113
July 2009 $294,118
June 2009 $287,621
May 2009 $306,394

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.