Department of Numbers

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Home Affordability

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

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2012 112.1
September 2012 111.6
June 2012 110.8
March 2012 109.8
December 2011 110.5
September 2011 110.0
June 2011 109.0
March 2011 108.6
December 2010 114.5

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2012 105.2
September 2012 104.7
June 2012 103.9
March 2012 103.0
December 2011 103.7
September 2011 103.2
June 2011 102.3
March 2011 101.9
December 2010 106.5

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2013 $275,056
December 2012 $277,130
November 2012 $277,130
October 2012 $276,090
September 2012 $271,988
August 2012 $268,637
July 2012 $270,305
June 2012 $266,000
May 2012 $262,116
April 2012 $258,628
March 2012 $257,377
February 2012 $259,257
January 2012 $258,314

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.