Department of Numbers

State College, Pennsylvania Home Affordability

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

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

State College, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 127.8
September 2011 126.8
June 2011 128.6
March 2011 127.9
December 2010 128.9
September 2010 128.2
June 2010 126.7
March 2010 125.9
December 2009 116.5

State College, 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 State College median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

State College, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 107.8
September 2011 106.9
June 2011 108.5
March 2011 107.9
December 2010 108.7
September 2010 108.2
June 2010 106.9
March 2010 106.2
December 2009 116.0

State College, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

State College, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2012 $236,593
December 2011 $235,449
November 2011 $234,597
October 2011 $232,345
September 2011 $231,231
August 2011 $226,855
July 2011 $219,489
June 2011 $220,519
May 2011 $217,197
April 2011 $212,232
March 2011 $212,232
February 2011 $209,575
January 2011 $214,198

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.