Department of Numbers

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania 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 Harrisburg home affordability to other cities.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 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 Harrisburg HPI series. Median household income data for Harrisburg is from the Census American Community Survey.

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 117.4
September 2011 117.4
June 2011 117.6
March 2011 118.5
December 2010 119.5
September 2010 118.9
June 2010 117.2
March 2010 118.4
December 2009 123.2

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 102.8
September 2011 102.9
June 2011 103.1
March 2011 103.8
December 2010 104.8
September 2010 104.2
June 2010 102.7
March 2010 103.8
December 2009 112.9

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2012 $285,571
December 2011 $284,190
November 2011 $283,161
October 2011 $280,444
September 2011 $279,099
August 2011 $273,817
July 2011 $264,926
June 2011 $266,169
May 2011 $262,160
April 2011 $256,167
March 2011 $256,167
February 2011 $252,960
January 2011 $258,539

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.