What $2,000 a Month Buys You in a Mortgage, at Every Interest Rate
At a fixed monthly budget, the interest rate alone decides how much house you can buy. This page runs that trade-off across the full range lenders quote today — 3.0% to 9.0% in half-point steps, for five common budgets ($1,000 to $3,000 a month) and both 30-year and 15-year fixed terms. Every number is computed directly from AbraCalc's own amortization engine, the same formula that powers the Mortgage Calculator, so you can reproduce or spot-check any cell.
Method: for a target monthly principal-and-interest payment M, monthly rate r (annual rate ÷ 12), and n total monthly payments (term in years × 12), the maximum affordable loan principal is the standard amortization formula solved for principal:
Figures are principal-and-interest only — they exclude property tax, homeowners insurance, PMI, and HOA dues, so a real qualifying payment (PITI) at the same budget would support a smaller loan. Rates are illustrative round-number inputs, not a live rate feed; use them to see the shape of the trade-off, then plug your own quoted rate into the Mortgage Calculator for an exact figure.
Loan You Can Afford at $2,000/Month, Every Rate from 3% to 9%
| Rate | 30-year loan you can afford | 15-year loan you can afford |
|---|---|---|
| 3.0% | $474,379 | $289,611 |
| 3.5% | $445,390 | $279,766 |
| 4.0% | $418,922 | $270,384 |
| 4.5% | $394,722 | $261,440 |
| 5.0% | $372,563 | $252,910 |
| 5.5% | $352,244 | $244,773 |
| 6.0% | $333,583 | $237,007 |
| 6.5% | $316,422 | $229,593 |
| 7.0% | $300,615 | $222,512 |
| 7.5% | $286,035 | $215,747 |
| 8.0% | $272,567 | $209,281 |
| 8.5% | $260,107 | $203,099 |
| 9.0% | $248,564 | $197,187 |
Key Findings
- Doubling the rate roughly halves the loan. At a $2,000/month budget on a 30-year term, moving from 3.0% to 9.0% cuts the affordable principal from $474,379 to $248,564 — a loss of $225,815, or 47.6% of buying power, for the same monthly payment.
- Each +1 point costs more at low rates than high ones, in percentage terms. The first point of increase, 3.0% to 4.0%, removes $55,456 (11.7%) of buying power; by the time rates reach 8.0% to 9.0%, an additional point removes $24,003 (8.8%) — a smaller share, because the base loan amount has already shrunk.
- A 15-year term buys about three-quarters of the house. At 6.5% and $2,000/month, a 30-year loan supports $316,422 of principal versus $229,593 on a 15-year term — the 15-year loan carries only 72.6% as much principal, the cost of paying it off in half the time and roughly halving lifetime interest.
- Keeping pace with a rate jump takes real money, not willpower. To match the $474,379 of buying power a $2,000/month budget gets at 3.0%, a borrower facing 7.0% would need to raise their monthly budget to about $3,156 — 58% more every month for the same loan size.
30-Year Fixed: Affordable Principal by Monthly Budget and Rate
| Rate | $1,000/mo | $1,500/mo | $2,000/mo | $2,500/mo | $3,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0% | $237,189 | $355,784 | $474,379 | $592,973 | $711,568 |
| 3.5% | $222,695 | $334,042 | $445,390 | $556,737 | $668,085 |
| 4.0% | $209,461 | $314,192 | $418,922 | $523,653 | $628,384 |
| 4.5% | $197,361 | $296,042 | $394,722 | $493,403 | $592,083 |
| 5.0% | $186,282 | $279,422 | $372,563 | $465,704 | $558,845 |
| 5.5% | $176,122 | $264,183 | $352,244 | $440,304 | $528,365 |
| 6.0% | $166,792 | $250,187 | $333,583 | $416,979 | $500,375 |
| 6.5% | $158,211 | $237,316 | $316,422 | $395,527 | $474,632 |
| 7.0% | $150,308 | $225,461 | $300,615 | $375,769 | $450,923 |
| 7.5% | $143,018 | $214,526 | $286,035 | $357,544 | $429,053 |
| 8.0% | $136,283 | $204,425 | $272,567 | $340,709 | $408,850 |
| 8.5% | $130,054 | $195,080 | $260,107 | $325,134 | $390,161 |
| 9.0% | $124,282 | $186,423 | $248,564 | $310,705 | $372,846 |
15-Year Fixed: Affordable Principal by Monthly Budget and Rate
| Rate | $1,000/mo | $1,500/mo | $2,000/mo | $2,500/mo | $3,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0% | $144,805 | $217,208 | $289,611 | $362,014 | $434,416 |
| 3.5% | $139,883 | $209,825 | $279,766 | $349,708 | $419,649 |
| 4.0% | $135,192 | $202,788 | $270,384 | $337,980 | $405,576 |
| 4.5% | $130,720 | $196,080 | $261,440 | $326,800 | $392,160 |
| 5.0% | $126,455 | $189,683 | $252,910 | $316,138 | $379,366 |
| 5.5% | $122,387 | $183,580 | $244,773 | $305,966 | $367,160 |
| 6.0% | $118,504 | $177,755 | $237,007 | $296,259 | $355,511 |
| 6.5% | $114,796 | $172,195 | $229,593 | $286,991 | $344,389 |
| 7.0% | $111,256 | $166,884 | $222,512 | $278,140 | $333,768 |
| 7.5% | $107,873 | $161,810 | $215,747 | $269,684 | $323,620 |
| 8.0% | $104,641 | $156,961 | $209,281 | $261,601 | $313,922 |
| 8.5% | $101,550 | $152,325 | $203,099 | $253,874 | $304,649 |
| 9.0% | $98,593 | $147,890 | $197,187 | $246,484 | $295,780 |
Related Calculators
- Mortgage Calculator — exact monthly payment for your own loan amount, rate, and term.
- Mortgage Affordability Calculator — works from your income and debts to a realistic purchase price.
- Loan Amortization Schedule Calculator — full month-by-month principal/interest breakdown for any loan.
- Mortgage Refinance Break-Even Calculator — find out how long it takes a lower rate to pay for itself.
- Mortgage Affordability, Amortization & Refinancing Explained — the underlying concepts behind this data.
Using This Data
This dataset is free to cite. If you reference these figures or reproduce the tables, please link back to this page (abracalc.com/guides/mortgage-affordability-by-rate/) and attribute AbraCalc as the source. Journalists and researchers who need the underlying dataset at a different rate step, budget range, or term length are welcome to run their own figures through the Mortgage Calculator, which uses the identical formula.