Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin 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 Milwaukee home affordability to other cities.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Milwaukee is 3.86 as determined by September 2011 Realtor median sales prices. The second chart shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Milwaukee HPI series. Median household income data for Milwaukee is from the Census American Community Survey.

Price-to-Income Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date	Realtor (Dollar Ratio)	FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011	3.86	125.0
June 2011	3.79	124.3
March 2011	3.64	126.3
December 2010	4.14	129.2
September 2010	4.14	130.3
June 2010	4.14	129.7
March 2010	4.14	129.7
December 2009	3.72	125.7
September 2009	3.72	126.0

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Milwaukee is 20.85 as determined by September 2011 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Milwaukee. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Milwaukee median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Dollar Ratio: Realtor, Realtor Adjusted Rent

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date	Realtor (Dollar Ratio)	Realtor Adjusted (Dollar Ratio)	FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011	24.62	20.85	105.0
June 2011	24.16	20.46	104.5
March 2011	23.22	19.67	106.2
December 2010	26.36	22.32	108.5
September 2010	26.36	22.32	109.5
June 2010	26.36	22.32	109.0
March 2010	26.36	22.32	109.0
December 2009	24.87	21.07	110.9
September 2009	24.87	21.07	111.2

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Milwaukee against a 100% loan-to-value mortgage (30-year fixed) for the median price home using Realtor home sales statistics. It's a lot like a cap rate, but I find it more appealing in ratio form. A ratio of 1.0 means that annual rent is equivalent annual mortgage payments. Values less than 1.0 indicate rents are cheaper and values greater than 1.0 mean mortgage payments are cheaper. Beware, taxes are not considered here. The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio for Milwaukee was 0.83 in September 2011.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Date	Realtor Adjusted Rent (Dollar Ratio)
September 2011	0.83
June 2011	0.80
March 2011	0.80
December 2010	0.72
September 2010	0.75
June 2010	0.72
March 2010	0.70
December 2009	0.74
September 2009	0.73

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Milwaukee, Wisconsin 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

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date	Inferred Mortgage
November 2011	$260,958
October 2011	$258,453
September 2011	$257,214
August 2011	$252,346
July 2011	$244,152
June 2011	$245,298
May 2011	$241,603
April 2011	$236,081
March 2011	$236,081
February 2011	$233,124
January 2011	$238,266
December 2010	$239,648
November 2010	$251,449