Department of Numbers

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Brownsville, Texas Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas 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 Brownsville home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Brownsville, Texas Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2013 116.1
September 2013 114.7
June 2013 114.1
March 2013 113.4
December 2012 114.0
September 2012 113.3
June 2012 111.1
March 2012 114.2

Brownsville, Texas Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Brownsville median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Brownsville, Texas Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2013 96.7
September 2013 95.5
June 2013 95.0
March 2013 94.5
December 2012 94.9
September 2012 94.3
June 2012 92.5
March 2012 95.1

Brownsville, Texas Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Brownsville, Texas Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $156,368
January 2014 $153,984
December 2013 $153,441
November 2013 $157,113
October 2013 $158,429
September 2013 $152,902
August 2013 $153,441
July 2013 $155,078
June 2013 $160,724
May 2013 $171,473
April 2013 $173,402
March 2013 $170,836
February 2013 $171,686

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. ↩

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