How much have housing costs risen since Biden's inaugeration

1. What the headline numbers mean: prices versus payments

Different outlets use different measures: federal HUD data cited by fact‑checkers shows median sales price rising from about $355,000 in Q1 2021 to $419,200 by Q4 2024 — an ~18% rise — while private firms such as Redfin and some business press reported roughly 20% or higher gains, and Fox Business cited a 25% increase in its analysis ^{[3] [1] [2]}. Those percent changes in sale prices understate how much households felt the squeeze because mortgage rates climbed from the sub‑3% pandemic low to the high‑single digits — boosting the monthly cost of buying far more than the price tag alone implies ^{[4] [5]}.

2. Why “cost” can be reported very differently

Politicians and think tanks cite different metrics to make competing points. Some focus on median sale price or Redfin’s market indexes (which produced ~20% figures) to say homes are pricier ^[1]. Others point to “user cost” — the actual monthly outlay after higher interest rates — which can show substantially larger increases and underlies claims that the cost of buying doubled in some presentations; fact‑checkers found that the “double” claim requires that broader definition and selective data ^{[5] [3]}. Republican congressional remarks emphasized a $100,000 average price increase and extreme housing inflation language, reflecting political framing rather than a single agreed statistic ^[6].

3. Mortgage rates: the engine of rising monthly payments

Mortgage rates matter more to monthly budgets than headline sale prices. The national 30‑year fixed averaged about 2.77% the week after Biden’s inauguration and later climbed to levels roughly 2.5 times higher, substantially increasing monthly payments for buyers or new borrowers ^[4]. Analyses and fact checks emphasized that pairing price gains with rate spikes explains why some narratives claim the cost of homeownership rose far more than price indexes alone show ^{[5] [2]}.

4. Rents, shelter inflation, and broader inflation context

Shelter costs have been a major component of inflation during this period; the administration and some reporters point out that shelter inflation later moderated but remained a drag on headline inflation measures, and that had political significance heading into elections ^{[7] [8]}. PBS and White House materials note shelter inflation’s outsized role in overall inflation readings and that cooling is expected but past gains continue to bite households ^{[8] [7]}.

5. Supply constraints and policy responses

Most reporting ties rising costs to an extended shortage of housing: fewer homes were built in the decade after the Great Recession and construction has not kept pace with demand, a theme the Biden administration has repeatedly invoked while proposing large housing investments and zoning reforms to boost supply ^{[9] [10] [11]}. The administration’s proposals and action plans — including a $258 billion housing budget pitch and regulatory steps to expand supply — reflect that view and aim at longer‑term affordability improvements ^{[12] [13]}.

6. Regional variation and recent cooling in 2025

National aggregates mask sharp local differences: some markets saw very large price jumps (resort and Western markets) while many metros softened in 2024–25. By late 2025 reporting shows price growth slowing and more metros registering year‑over‑year declines, with mortgage rates easing from their peak and monthly payments becoming more affordable than a year earlier in some measures ^{[14] [15] [16]}.

7. What we can say — and what sources don’t cover

Available sources converge on two points: median home prices rose substantially during Biden’s administration (roughly high‑teens to mid‑20s percent depending on the series) and mortgage rates rose from ~2.7% in Jan 2021 to the high single digits later, multiplying the pain for buyers ^{[3] [1] [4]}. Sources do not provide a single, universally accepted metric that translates all those movements into one definitive “cost increase” for every household; precise claims that costs “doubled” depend on methodology and choice of inputs and are contested by fact‑checkers ^{[5] [3]}.

Limitations: this summary uses the supplied reporting, which mixes federal series, private indexes and political statements; each source applies different definitions and time frames, producing different percentages ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Where interpretations conflict, readers should inspect the underlying metric — sale price, typical monthly payment, or “user cost” — to understand what a quoted percentage actually measures.