Department of Numbers

Scranton, Pennsylvania Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, 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 Scranton home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Scranton, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2012 115.7
September 2012 115.7
June 2012 115.0
March 2012 115.0
December 2011 116.4
September 2011 115.6
June 2011 112.4
March 2011 116.0
December 2010 122.2

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Scranton, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2012 103.9
September 2012 103.9
June 2012 103.3
March 2012 103.4
December 2011 104.6
September 2011 103.8
June 2011 101.0
March 2011 104.3
December 2010 111.9

Scranton, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Scranton, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2013 $247,170
December 2012 $249,033
November 2012 $249,033
October 2012 $248,099
September 2012 $244,413
August 2012 $241,402
July 2012 $242,901
June 2012 $239,032
May 2012 $235,541
April 2012 $232,407
March 2012 $231,283
February 2012 $232,972
January 2012 $232,125

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.