Department of Numbers

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Lancaster, 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 Lancaster home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2012 127.0
September 2012 128.1
June 2012 126.2
March 2012 127.2
December 2011 129.1
September 2011 127.8
June 2011 128.7
March 2011 129.0
December 2010 136.4

Lancaster, 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 Lancaster median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2012 107.5
September 2012 108.4
June 2012 106.9
March 2012 107.7
December 2011 109.3
September 2011 108.2
June 2011 109.0
March 2011 109.2
December 2010 110.6

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2013 $300,578
December 2012 $302,844
November 2012 $302,844
October 2012 $301,708
September 2012 $297,225
August 2012 $293,563
July 2012 $295,386
June 2012 $290,682
May 2012 $286,437
April 2012 $282,625
March 2012 $281,258
February 2012 $283,313
January 2012 $282,282

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.