Department of Numbers

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Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Cedar Rapids, 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 Cedar Rapids home affordability to other cities.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Cedar Rapids is 2.48 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 Cedar Rapids HPI series. Median household income data for Cedar Rapids 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

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)		 FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 2.48 —
December 2013 2.53 102.8
September 2013 2.80 102.9
June 2013 2.88 102.7
March 2013 2.52 102.6
December 2012 2.54 102.3
September 2012 2.54 101.8
June 2012 2.54 101.8

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Cedar Rapids is 18.2 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Cedar Rapids. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Cedar Rapids 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

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)		 Realtor Adjusted
(Dollar Ratio)		 FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 21.93 18.20 —
December 2013 22.35 18.55 102.5
September 2013 24.71 20.51 102.7
June 2013 25.43 21.11 102.5
March 2013 22.25 18.47 102.3
December 2012 22.41 18.60 102.0
September 2012 22.41 18.60 101.5
June 2012 22.41 18.60 101.5

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Cedar Rapids 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 Cedar Rapids was 0.92 in March 2014.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Date Realtor Adjusted Rent
(Dollar Ratio)
March 2014 0.92
December 2013 0.89
September 2013 0.80
June 2013 0.82
March 2013 1.00
December 2012 1.02
September 2012 1.00
June 2012 0.98

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Cedar Rapids, 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

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $289,075
January 2014 $284,666
December 2013 $283,664
November 2013 $290,451
October 2013 $292,885
September 2013 $282,666
August 2013 $283,664
July 2013 $286,688
June 2013 $297,127
May 2013 $316,997
April 2013 $320,565
March 2013 $315,821
February 2013 $317,391

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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