Department of Numbers

Columbus, Ohio Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Columbus, 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.

Columbus, Ohio Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for Columbus is 2.75 as determined by June 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 Columbus HPI series.1 Median household income data for Columbus is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Columbus, Ohio Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
June 2010 99.7
March 2010 99.8
December 2009 101.2
September 2009 101.3
June 2009 102.3

Columbus, Ohio Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for Columbus is 17.98 as determined by June 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Columbus. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Columbus median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Columbus, Ohio Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
June 2010 99.1
March 2010 99.2
December 2009 100.6
September 2009 100.7
June 2009 101.6

Columbus, Ohio Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Columbus, 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
July 2010 $266,498
June 2010 $260,980
May 2010 $256,513
April 2010 $250,451
March 2010 $254,177
February 2010 $253,599
January 2010 $252,447
December 2009 $255,341
November 2009 $256,807
October 2009 $254,758
September 2009 $251,589
August 2009 $247,920
July 2009 $247,085

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.