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 2011 121.5
September 2011 120.7
June 2011 118.7
March 2011 120.7
December 2010 123.5
September 2010 122.5
June 2010 121.3
March 2010 123.6
December 2009 124.3

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 2011 111.3
September 2011 110.5
June 2011 108.7
March 2011 110.5
December 2010 113.1
September 2010 112.2
June 2010 111.0
March 2010 113.1
December 2009 113.7

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 2012 $224,020
December 2011 $222,936
November 2011 $222,129
October 2011 $219,997
September 2011 $218,943
August 2011 $214,799
July 2011 $207,824
June 2011 $208,800
May 2011 $205,654
April 2011 $200,953
March 2011 $200,953
February 2011 $198,437
January 2011 $202,814

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.