Department of Numbers

Cleveland, Ohio Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.

Cleveland, Ohio Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for Cleveland is 2.16 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 Cleveland HPI series.1 Median household income data for Cleveland is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Cleveland, Ohio Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 94.2
December 2009 95.8
September 2009 96.4
June 2009 98.3
March 2009 101.0

Cleveland, Ohio Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for Cleveland is 12.58 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Cleveland. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Cleveland median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Cleveland, Ohio Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 88.8
December 2009 90.3
September 2009 90.9
June 2009 92.6
March 2009 95.1

Cleveland, Ohio Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Cleveland, Ohio 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 $232,051
April 2010 $226,567
March 2010 $229,939
February 2010 $229,415
January 2010 $228,373
December 2009 $230,991
November 2009 $232,317
October 2009 $230,464
September 2009 $227,597
August 2009 $224,278
July 2009 $223,522
June 2009 $218,584
May 2009 $232,851

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.