See how home affordability has changed across the decades
The median US home price in 1990 was $122,900. At 1990 mortgage rates of 10.1% the monthly payment was $1,085. The median household income in 1990 was $29,943 — making that payment 43% of monthly income. Today the median home costs $420,000 at 7% rate — a monthly payment of $2,796 on median household income of $80,610 which is also 42% of monthly income.
Home affordability measures the relationship between home prices, mortgage rates and household incomes across different historical periods. This calculator shows what it would have cost to buy a median home in any year from 1970 to today and compares that burden to household income at the time — revealing how affordability has changed across generations.