Department of Numbers

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, North Carolina metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for Charlotte is 3.12 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 Charlotte HPI series.1 Median household income data for Charlotte is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 111.2
December 2009 112.8
September 2009 115.8
June 2009 118.5
March 2009 120.5

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for Charlotte is 20.31 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Charlotte. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Charlotte median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 108.8
December 2009 110.4
September 2009 113.3
June 2009 116.0
March 2009 117.9

Charlotte, North Carolina Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Charlotte, North Carolina 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 $259,220
April 2010 $253,094
March 2010 $256,860
February 2010 $256,275
January 2010 $255,111
December 2009 $258,035
November 2009 $259,517
October 2009 $257,447
September 2009 $254,244
August 2009 $250,536
July 2009 $249,692
June 2009 $244,176
May 2009 $260,113

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.