Rising prices. Rent money gone. Lost equity. Find out exactly what waiting is costing you — in dollars, not vague advice.
We calculate the financial impact of delaying your home purchase by 1, 2, or 3 years. Two scenarios compared: buying today vs waiting. We factor home price appreciation (3.5%/year), rental cost during wait period, and the opportunity cost of your down payment sitting idle.
Home appreciation: 3.5%/year (30-year national average). Rent inflation: 3%/year. Down payment investment return if waiting: 4% (conservative). Does not account for rate changes. Educational use only.
🔍 Also explore: All FRC Tools · Lender Comparison · FHA by State · Lender Stress Index
Prices and rates are widely reported. Whether a lender says yes is not. In the complete 2025 federal record, denial rates across the 100 largest FHA lenders ran from 1.8% to 78.7% — same programme, same year.
And it is not simply who applies where: standardizing on state, loan amount, income, debt-to-income and loan-to-value, applicant mix explains only a 2.7× range in expected outcomes.
CFPB HMDA 2025, computed by FinanceRateCalc. Covers the highest-volume lenders published per market, not all lenders. Historical observations, not predictions. CC BY 4.0, not independently reproduced.