Department of Numbers

This section of Department of Numbers is no longer being updated and may be removed in the future. The data here is out of date and should no longer be used.

Portland, Maine Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine 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 Portland home affordability to other cities.

Portland, Maine Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Portland is 3.93 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 Portland HPI series. Median household income data for Portland 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

Portland, Maine Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)
FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 3.93
December 2013 4.24 136.4
September 2013 4.39 136.1
June 2013 4.35 136.8
March 2013 3.85 135.4
December 2012 4.09 134.6
September 2012 4.09 134.1
June 2012 4.09 134.3

Portland, Maine Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Portland is 18.04 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Portland. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Portland 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

Portland, Maine Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)
Realtor Adjusted
(Dollar Ratio)
FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 21.68 18.04
December 2013 23.42 19.48 113.6
September 2013 24.25 20.18 113.3
June 2013 23.98 19.95 113.8
March 2013 21.27 17.70 112.7
December 2012 22.55 18.77 112.0
September 2012 22.55 18.77 111.6
June 2012 22.55 18.77 111.8

Portland, Maine Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Portland 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 Portland was 0.93 in March 2014.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Portland, Maine Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Date Realtor Adjusted Rent
(Dollar Ratio)
March 2014 0.93
December 2013 0.85
September 2013 0.82
June 2013 0.87
March 2013 1.04
December 2012 1.01
September 2012 0.99
June 2012 0.97

Portland, Maine Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Portland, Maine 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

Portland, Maine Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $271,287
January 2014 $267,150
December 2013 $266,209
November 2013 $272,579
October 2013 $274,863
September 2013 $265,273
August 2013 $266,209
July 2013 $269,048
June 2013 $278,844
May 2013 $297,492
April 2013 $300,840
March 2013 $296,388
February 2013 $297,861

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.