Department of Numbers

Hickory, North Carolina Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, 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.

Hickory, North Carolina Home Price-to-Income Index

The chart below shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Hickory HPI series.1 Median household income data for Hickory is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

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

Date FHFA
June 2010 118.8
March 2010 121.1
December 2009 121.7
September 2009 121.6
June 2009 123.1

Hickory, North Carolina Home Price-to-Rent Index

The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Hickory median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

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

Date FHFA
June 2010 105.6
March 2010 107.7
December 2009 108.2
September 2009 108.1
June 2009 109.5

Hickory, North Carolina Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Hickory, 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
July 2010 $202,643
June 2010 $198,447
May 2010 $195,050
April 2010 $190,441
March 2010 $193,274
February 2010 $192,834
January 2010 $191,959
December 2009 $194,159
November 2009 $195,274
October 2009 $193,716
September 2009 $191,306
August 2009 $188,516
July 2009 $187,881

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.