>>Ignoring down payments (which differ greatly between the two examples) and other expenses like property taxes, the 2020 mortgage rate allows someone to buy 17

>>Ignoring down payments (which differ greatly between the two examples) and other expenses like property taxes, the 2020 mortgage rate allows someone to buy 172% as much house as they could in 2000. In nominal dollars this is correct, but the $423,870 2020-dollars is equivalent to $660,449 2021-dollars, or only 11% more house in "real" terms, not 72%.[1] >>[...] it shows how much mortgage rates are driving the housing price boom I think the dual combination of mortgage rates and inflation-adjusted real value caused the increase in nominal housing prices. >>Scary to think what's going to happen when (if?) rates start going back up. Given that lower mortgage rates were essential to keep affordability barely within reach, we are in complete agreement here that higher rates will be really ugly, even if they might be necessary/inevitable. [1] https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm