Department of Numbers

Richmond, Virginia Home Affordability

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

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Richmond, Virginia Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 129.1
June 2011 129.8
March 2011 132.2
December 2010 137.0
September 2010 137.8
June 2010 137.8
March 2010 139.6
December 2009 140.8
September 2009 142.0

Richmond, Virginia Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Richmond, Virginia Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 104.3
June 2011 104.8
March 2011 106.7
December 2010 110.6
September 2010 111.3
June 2010 111.3
March 2010 112.7
December 2009 115.8
September 2009 116.8

Richmond, Virginia Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Richmond, Virginia Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
November 2011 $290,061
October 2011 $287,277
September 2011 $285,900
August 2011 $280,489
July 2011 $271,381
June 2011 $272,655
May 2011 $268,548
April 2011 $262,409
March 2011 $262,409
February 2011 $259,123
January 2011 $264,839
December 2010 $266,375
November 2010 $279,491

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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