The $500,000 home-sale exclusion has not moved since 1997
Section 121 shields $250,000 of gain per seller, $500,000 per couple, unchanged since 1997. FHFA's index is up 268% since January 1998.
Section
Real Estate
Mortgage rates, affordability, supply and the machinery that connects monetary policy to your housing payment.
Latest
Oct 29, 2026
Oct 20, 2026
Home completions fell 27.1% in a year; starts held at 1,275,000
Census: August 2026 completions ran 1,128,000 a year, 27.1% below August 2025, while starts were 1,275,000. The September report was due October 20, 2026.
Oct 16, 2026
Mortgage rate holds at 7.40% while the 10-year yield slips to 5.19%
Freddie Mac's October 15, 2026 survey left the 30-year fixed at 7.40% for a second week while the 10-year Treasury yield fell nine basis points.
Oct 13, 2026
CPI shelter ran 3.0% to August 2026, below the 3.4% headline
A third of the CPI is rent nobody pays in cash. Here is how BLS measures it, why the figure trails the market by design, and what Census vacancy data show.
Oct 13, 2026
At 7.40%, the 30-year mortgage is up 64 basis points in four weeks
Freddie Mac's October 8, 2026 survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.40%, the highest of 2026: $135.80 more a month on a median new home than four weeks earlier.
Oct 7, 2026
House prices rose 2.6% in the year to July, slower than inflation
FHFA's index rose 0.3% in July 2026 and 2.6% over 12 months. With consumer prices up 3.4%, that is a real fall of 0.8%. Three of nine divisions beat it.
Sep 28, 2026
At 6.95%, the median new home costs 35% of median household income
One house at $393,700, one household at $87,460, one rate at 6.95%. Every line of the monthly payment from primary sources, set against lenders' own ratios.
Sep 23, 2026
Should you pay down your mortgage or invest? Here is the arithmetic.
A 6.95% mortgage is the only guaranteed 6.95% return most households can buy. Every risk-free alternative on offer in September 2026 pays less than that. Four assumptions decide the rest.
Aug 16, 2026
Why your mortgage rate does not follow the Fed's rate
The Fed sets an overnight rate. Your mortgage is priced off a ten-year bond plus a spread, and the two move for different reasons. The gap is why a Fed decision does not land on your housing payment.