Department of Numbers

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin 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 Milwaukee home affordability to other cities.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The current price-to-income ratio for Milwaukee is 3.54 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 Milwaukee HPI series. Median household income data for Milwaukee 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

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)		 FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 3.54 —
December 2013 3.64 114.8
September 2013 4.03 115.6
June 2013 3.97 114.6
March 2013 3.45 114.0
December 2012 3.56 114.2
September 2012 3.56 114.3
June 2012 3.56 113.2

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The current adjusted price-to-rent ratio for Milwaukee is 19.66 as determined by March 2014 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Milwaukee. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Milwaukee 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

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date Realtor
(Dollar Ratio)		 Realtor Adjusted
(Dollar Ratio)		 FHFA
(Index Ratio)
March 2014 23.10 19.66 —
December 2013 23.76 20.22 98.9
September 2013 26.30 22.39 99.6
June 2013 25.92 22.06 98.7
March 2013 22.53 19.18 98.2
December 2012 23.27 19.81 98.4
September 2012 23.27 19.81 98.5
June 2012 23.27 19.81 97.5

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio

The rent-to-mortgage payment ratio uses the adjusted rent for Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee was 0.85 in March 2014.

Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Dollar Ratio: Realtor

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Home Rent-to-Mortgage Payment Ratio History

Date Realtor Adjusted Rent
(Dollar Ratio)
March 2014 0.85
December 2013 0.82
September 2013 0.74
June 2013 0.78
March 2013 0.96
December 2012 0.95
September 2012 0.94
June 2012 0.92

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Milwaukee, Wisconsin 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

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
February 2014 $265,750
January 2014 $261,698
December 2013 $260,776
November 2013 $267,016
October 2013 $269,253
September 2013 $259,859
August 2013 $260,776
July 2013 $263,557
June 2013 $273,153
May 2013 $291,420
April 2013 $294,700
March 2013 $290,339
February 2013 $291,782

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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