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This section of Department of Numbers is no longer being updated and may be removed in the future. The data here is out of date and should no longer be used.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Lancaster, Pennsylvania 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 Lancaster home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2013 125.7
September 2013 123.8
June 2013 124.1
March 2013 125.0
December 2012 124.0
September 2012 125.1
June 2012 122.7
March 2012 123.4

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2013 99.0
September 2013 97.5
June 2013 97.8
March 2013 98.5
December 2012 97.7
September 2012 98.5
June 2012 96.7
March 2012 97.2

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Lancaster, Pennsylvania 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

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $276,718
January 2014 $272,498
December 2013 $271,538
November 2013 $278,036
October 2013 $280,365
September 2013 $270,583
August 2013 $271,538
July 2013 $274,434
June 2013 $284,426
May 2013 $303,447
April 2013 $306,862
March 2013 $302,321
February 2013 $303,824

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.