Department of Numbers

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Lakeland, Florida Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida 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 Lakeland home affordability to other cities.

Lakeland, Florida Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Lakeland is 3.02 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 Lakeland HPI series. Median household income data for Lakeland 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

Lakeland, Florida Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)		 FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 3.02 —
December 2013 2.96 112.2
September 2013 3.00 111.0
June 2013 2.81 108.7
March 2013 2.72 103.9
December 2012 2.46 105.5
September 2012 2.46 104.2
June 2012 2.46 101.5

Lakeland, Florida Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Lakeland is 17.69 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Lakeland. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Lakeland 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

Lakeland, Florida Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)		 Realtor Adjusted
(Dollar Ratio)		 FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 15.74 17.69 —
December 2013 15.41 17.32 77.7
September 2013 15.58 17.52 76.9
June 2013 14.61 16.43 75.3
March 2013 14.16 15.92 72.0
December 2012 12.78 14.36 73.1
September 2012 12.78 14.36 72.2
June 2012 12.78 14.36 70.3

Lakeland, Florida Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Lakeland 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 Lakeland was 0.95 in March 2014.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Lakeland, Florida Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Date Realtor Adjusted Rent
(Dollar Ratio)
March 2014 0.95
December 2013 0.95
September 2013 0.94
June 2013 1.05
March 2013 1.16
December 2012 1.32
September 2012 1.29
June 2012 1.26

Lakeland, Florida Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Lakeland, Florida 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

Lakeland, Florida Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $208,766
January 2014 $205,582
December 2013 $204,858
November 2013 $209,760
October 2013 $211,517
September 2013 $204,138
August 2013 $204,858
July 2013 $207,043
June 2013 $214,581
May 2013 $228,931
April 2013 $231,508
March 2013 $228,082
February 2013 $229,216

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. ↩

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