Median multiple

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Housing prices to personal income (per capita) ratios by metro area
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Los Angeles
San Jose
Denver
New York
Seattle
Boston
United States average
Dallas
Chicago
Detroit Housing prices to personal income ratios.webp
Housing prices to personal income (per capita) ratios by metro area
   San Jose
   Denver
   New York
   Seattle
   Boston
   United States average
   Dallas
   Chicago
   Detroit
House price to income ratio
Median house price (left)
House price to income ratio (right)
Median household income (left) House price to income ratio.webp
House price to income ratio
  Median house price (left)
  House price to income ratio (right)
  Median household income (left)

The Median multiple or Median house price to income ratio is a housing indicator used to indicate the affordability of housing in any given community. [1] The Median house price to income ratio WAS the primary indicator H1 of the 1991 World Bank/UNCHS Housing Indicator system. [2] [3] It was subsequently used as a measure of affordability by the UN Commission for Sustainable Development, the National Association of Realtors, State of the Environment 2003 Tasmania; and the Mortgage Guide UK [4] along with many other organisations. [5]

Contents

The indicator has been popularised by Demographia International, and was called the 'Median multiple' from their second comparative international survey in 2006. [6]

The median multiple is the ratio of the median house price by the median gross (before tax) annual household income. This measure has historically hovered around a value of 3 or less, but in recent years has risen dramatically, especially in markets with public policy constraints on land and development. [7]

The median multiple ratio has an important flaw in that it fails to account for the critical affordability component of mortgage interest rates. Mortgage interest rates are a major impacting factor on affordability as most real estate purchasers utilise mortgage finance to purchase real estate. In 1991 when the World Bank announced the median multiple as the primary affordability indicator, global mortgage rates were around 10%p.a. Since then interest rates have generally been on a long term downward trend. Whilst mortgage rates may not, stay below 10% using the median multiple in isolation to assess affordability has proven over a long period to have been a misleading affordability measure.

Table

The International Housing Affordability Survey uses the following table to determine affordability ratings: [8]

RatingMedian multiple
Severely unaffordable5.1 and over
Seriously unaffordable4.1 to 5.0
Moderately unaffordable3.1 to 4.0
Affordable3.0 and under

See also

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References

  1. "Real Estate Bubbles and the "Median Multiple Index"". Ted's Blog. Retrieved 2016-02-13.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. "The Housing Indicators Program". World Bank. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  3. Angel, Shlomo (2000-10-20). Housing Policy Matters: A Global Analysis. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN   9780195350326.
  4. "Ratio of House Prices to Income". UK's Mortgage Guide. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  5. Flood, Joe. "Housing indicators". International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home. Elsevier. pp. 502–508. ISBN   978-0-08-047171-6.
  6. "2nd Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2006" (PDF). Demographia. 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  7. "10th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  8. "12th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2016" (PDF). Retrieved 13 February 2016.