Housing decisions start with better math.

Five free calculators that model the full financial picture — not just a monthly payment. No account or personal data required.

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Market Context

Historical data to calibrate your assumptions. Static annual averages from public sources — useful context for anyone modeling a housing or investment decision today.

Housing Affordability, 1990–2024
All series indexed to 2000 = 100, so growth rates are directly comparable regardless of unit
Median Home Price
Overlays:
Sources: FRED (MSPUS, HOUST1F), U.S. Census Bureau, BLS CPI-U. Annual averages, 1990–2024. Single-family starts = FRED HOUST1F, thousands of units.
Mortgage Rate History, 1990–2024
30 and 15-year fixed, annual averages. Current rates in long-term context.
Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS). Annual averages. 15-year fixed data begins 1991.

Guides & Explainers

In-depth articles on the math and tradeoffs behind major housing decisions.

Market
Latest

The Fed Funds Rate vs. Mortgage Rates: Why They Don't Move Together

When the Federal Reserve cuts rates, mortgage rates often don't follow — because they're priced off the 10-year Treasury, not the Fed. This guide explains the mechanics behind the disconnect, why the spread has been historically wide since 2022, and what buyers should actually be watching to anticipate where rates are heading.

Read the guide →
Buying

Rent vs. Buy in 2026: A Complete Financial Framework

Most rent vs. buy comparisons reduce a 30-year decision to a single monthly payment. This guide walks through the full financial picture — amortization, opportunity cost, equity growth, and the assumptions that change everything.

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Market

The Mortgage Rate Lock-In Effect: Why Millions of Homeowners Won't Sell

About 60% of outstanding U.S. mortgages carry rates below 4%. This guide explains why that's choking supply, keeping prices elevated, and what it means if you're a buyer — or weighing a move of your own.

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Mortgages

How Mortgage Rates Affect Buying Power

A 1-point move in mortgage rates shifts your maximum purchase price by roughly 10%. This guide shows the math, explains why rate-driven affordability swings are larger than most buyers expect, and how to plan around rate uncertainty.

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View all guides →
From the maker

Why I built this

I originally built an overengineered (and truly ugly — seriously, my wife hated it) Excel spreadsheet to answer one simple question: when could my family realistically move into a larger home? Most existing tools had two major drawbacks: they required personal info like a phone number or email address, subjecting you to relentless marketing, and they largely catered to the rent vs. buy question rather than when to buy again. So I built the Home Swap Calculator, the most distinctive part of this site. Other questions kept coming up along the way, and that's how the rest of the calculators got added. The articles came later — questions I'd had to piece together myself while going through the process, on the assumption that others were probably asking the same things.