Department of Numbers

This section of Department of Numbers is no longer being updated and may be removed in the future. The data here is out of date and should no longer be used.

Raleigh, North Carolina Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Raleigh-Cary, 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 Raleigh home affordability to other cities.

Raleigh, North Carolina Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Raleigh is 3.2 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. The second chart shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Raleigh HPI series. Median household income data for Raleigh is from the Census American Community Survey.

Price-to-Income Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

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

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)
FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 3.20
December 2013 3.31 106.3
September 2013 3.36 106.4
June 2013 3.30 104.3
March 2013 3.03 103.4
December 2012 3.13 103.2
September 2012 3.13 102.9
June 2012 3.13 101.5

Raleigh, North Carolina Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Raleigh is 19.73 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Raleigh. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Raleigh median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Dollar Ratio: Realtor, Realtor Adjusted Rent

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

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

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)
Realtor Adjusted
(Dollar Ratio)
FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 21.73 19.73
December 2013 22.47 20.40 104.2
September 2013 22.80 20.70 104.3
June 2013 22.36 20.30 102.2
March 2013 20.56 18.67 101.3
December 2012 21.20 19.25 101.2
September 2012 21.20 19.25 100.9
June 2012 21.20 19.25 99.5

Raleigh, North Carolina Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Raleigh against a 100% loan-to-value mortgage (30-year fixed) for the median price home using Realtor home sales statistics. It's a lot like a cap rate, but I find it more appealing in ratio form. A ratio of 1.0 means that annual rent is equivalent annual mortgage payments. Values less than 1.0 indicate rents are cheaper and values greater than 1.0 mean mortgage payments are cheaper. Beware, taxes are not considered here. The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio for Raleigh was 0.85 in March 2014.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Raleigh, North Carolina Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Date Realtor Adjusted Rent
(Dollar Ratio)
March 2014 0.85
December 2013 0.81
September 2013 0.80
June 2013 0.85
March 2013 0.99
December 2012 0.98
September 2012 0.96
June 2012 0.94

Raleigh, North Carolina Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Raleigh, 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

Raleigh, North Carolina Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $304,720
January 2014 $300,073
December 2013 $299,016
November 2013 $306,171
October 2013 $308,736
September 2013 $297,965
August 2013 $299,016
July 2013 $302,205
June 2013 $313,208
May 2013 $334,154
April 2013 $337,915
March 2013 $332,914
February 2013 $334,569

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.