1972–2025
Available for selection because all required annual observations pass review.
Reproducible by design
From today’s income to one selected housing year
Housing Time Machine keeps public source data separate from private user inputs, translates current income with CPI-U, and compares it with the official annual median new-home price for the completed year you choose.
Calculation sequence
Six inspectable steps
- Choose eligible records.1972–2025 require reviewed full-year price, rate, and CPI-U observations. Missing inputs make a record ineligible; they never become zero.
- Select a completed year.The chosen year controls the result. The calculator does not assign a fixed “best” match.
- Translate current income.Historical income equals current annual income multiplied by historical CPI-U and divided by the current CPI-U anchor.
- Calculate gross-income years.The official annual median new-home sale price is divided by the CPI-adjusted gross annual income. The result is a ratio, not years to save, buy, or pay off a home.
- Draw a current wealth comparator.The browser randomly selects one person from a dated, reviewed Forbes top-20 snapshot. No income or year affects who is drawn, and the visitor can request another draw.
- Use the same dollar basis.The current net-worth estimate is multiplied by selected-year CPI-U and divided by the current CPI-U anchor, then divided by the selected year’s median new-home price. The active anchor is the June 2026 CPI-U observation, one month earlier than the July 27 wealth snapshot. Calculations retain full precision and round only for display.
Comparison eligibility
Complete, partial, or unavailable
1971 and 2026
Visible as dated context, but not offered as completed-year selections.
1963–1970 rate
Freddie Mac PMMS did not yet exist. No rate is invented or converted to zero.
Baseline exclusions
What the result does not model
- Property tax and homeowners insurance
- PMI, HOA dues, maintenance, and utilities
- Taxes on income, living expenses, savings rate, and investment returns
- Financing, closing costs, credit profile, and underwriting
- Existing-home prices, local prices, or rent-versus-buy
- Mortgage qualification, approval, or an actual purchase timeline
- Future billionaire wealth, investment returns, purchases, or wealth earned during the visitor's gross-income-years interval