This section of Department of Numbers is no longer being updated and may be removed in the future. The data here is out of date and should no longer be used.

Des Moines, Iowa Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa 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 Des Moines home affordability to other cities.

Des Moines, Iowa Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Des Moines is 2.58 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. The second chart shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Des Moines HPI series. Median household income data for Des Moines 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

Des Moines, Iowa Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Des Moines, Iowa Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Des Moines is 16.95 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Des Moines. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Des Moines 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

Des Moines, Iowa Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Des Moines, Iowa Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Des Moines 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 Des Moines was 0.99 in March 2014.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Des Moines, Iowa Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Des Moines, Iowa Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Des Moines, Iowa 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

Des Moines, Iowa Inferred Affordable Mortgage History