Seattle, Washington Home Affordability
The data below measures home affordability for the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.
Seattle, Washington Home Price-to-Income Index
The current price-to-income ratio for Seattle is 4.55 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. The chart below shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Seattle HPI series.1 Median household income data for Seattle is from the Census American Community Survey.2
Price-to-Income: FHFA
Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000
Seattle, Washington Home Price-to-Income Index History
| Date | FHFA |
|---|---|
| March 2010 | 120.5 |
| December 2009 | 122.8 |
| September 2009 | 124.1 |
| June 2009 | 128.2 |
| March 2009 | 134.1 |
Seattle, Washington Home Price-to-Rent Index
The current price-to-rent ratio for Seattle is 24.58 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Seattle. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Seattle median contract rent data from the Census ACS.
Price-to-Rent: FHFA
Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000
Seattle, Washington Home Price-to-Rent Index History
| Date | FHFA |
|---|---|
| March 2010 | 118.5 |
| December 2009 | 120.8 |
| September 2009 | 122.1 |
| June 2009 | 126.1 |
| March 2009 | 131.9 |
Seattle, Washington Inferred Affordable Mortgage
The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Seattle, Washington 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
| Date | Inferred Mortgage |
|---|---|
| May 2010 | $313,443 |
| April 2010 | $306,036 |
| March 2010 | $310,590 |
| February 2010 | $309,882 |
| January 2010 | $308,475 |
| December 2009 | $312,011 |
| November 2009 | $313,803 |
| October 2009 | $311,299 |
| September 2009 | $307,426 |
| August 2009 | $302,943 |
| July 2009 | $301,923 |
| June 2009 | $295,253 |
| May 2009 | $314,524 |