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.1 The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated. You can also compare Charlotte home affordability to other cities.

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The second chart shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Charlotte HPI series. Median household income data for Charlotte is from the Census American Community Survey.

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

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

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 113.7
June 2011 113.0
March 2011 116.3
December 2010 118.4
September 2010 119.9
June 2010 118.7
March 2010 120.3
December 2009 119.7
September 2009 122.9

Charlotte, North Carolina Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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 Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

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

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 102.1
June 2011 101.5
March 2011 104.4
December 2010 106.3
September 2010 107.6
June 2010 106.5
March 2010 108.0
December 2009 105.3
September 2009 108.1

Charlotte, North Carolina Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value 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

Charlotte, North Carolina Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
November 2011 $264,497
October 2011 $261,958
September 2011 $260,702
August 2011 $255,768
July 2011 $247,463
June 2011 $248,625
May 2011 $244,880
April 2011 $239,282
March 2011 $239,282
February 2011 $236,286
January 2011 $241,498
December 2010 $242,898
November 2010 $254,859

1. Specifically, home prices are from the non seasonally adjusted FHFA all-transactions quarterly series. Dollar ratios are calculated using NAR metro prices when available. Rent and income data are from the Census ACS and are carried forward into the following year prior to release of the new data.