For journalists and researchers
Data & methodology
Every number on After the Fed comes from a public, official source that allows reuse. Here is what we use, how we calculate the city figures, and how to credit us.
How to cite us
Source: After the Fed, afterthefed.com
For the city repayment figures, a fuller credit: “Source: After the Fed (afterthefed.com) analysis of Federal Reserve, Freddie Mac, U.S. Census Bureau and FHFA data”. Please link to the page you used. Questions: hello@afterthefed.com.
Downloads
- US metros: typical home value and repayments before and after the latest Fed decision (CSV)
- Fed funds target changes since 2003 (CSV)
We do not republish Freddie Mac’s full mortgage-rate history. Get it from Freddie Mac directly: PMMS_history.csv.
Sources and licences
| Data | Publisher | Licence / terms |
|---|---|---|
| Fed funds target changes | Federal Reserve Board, Open Market Operations | Public domain; “please cite the Board as the source” (terms) |
| 30- and 15-year fixed mortgage rates | Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey® | May be used with proper attribution; alteration prohibited (stated on the PMMS page) |
| Median home value, population (US metros) | U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 ACS 1-year, B25077 and B01003 | U.S. government work, public domain |
| House price index (US metros) | FHFA HPI®, all-transactions, NSA | Public domain (FHFA policy); FHFA HPI® is a registered mark |
| Approximate visitor location (city picker default only) | IP Geolocation by DB-IP, IP to City Lite, October 2026 | CC BY 4.0; adapted (filtered to covered countries and matched to covered cities) |
Not used: Zillow and Cotality (CoreLogic) home value data, whose terms we could not confirm allow commercial republication; FRED, by choice: we go to the original publishers instead.
How the city figures are calculated
United States (25 largest metro areas by 2024 population)
- Typical home value. Start from the Census Bureau’s 2024 ACS 1-year median value of owner-occupied homes for the metro (table B25077). This is what owners think their home is worth, surveyed through 2024. Move it to today using FHFA’s all-transactions house price index for the same metro: value × (index in the latest quarter ÷ average index across 2024). Round to the nearest $1,000. Latest FHFA quarter: 2026Q2.
- Loan. Home value minus a 20% down payment, 30-year fixed.
- Rates. “Before” is Freddie Mac’s weekly average for the last survey week before the Fed decision (October 22, 2026: 7.32%). “After” is the latest survey (October 29, 2026: 7.24%). Fixed rates move with bond markets as well as the Fed, so we describe this as the change since the decision.
- Repayment. Standard amortisation, principal and interest only: P × r × (1+r)n ÷ ((1+r)n − 1), with r the monthly rate and n the number of months. Excludes property tax, insurance, HOA fees and PMI. Total repaid = repayment × number of payments.
Limits
- Metro and capital-city medians hide big differences between suburbs and neighbourhoods.
- The US value is an estimate built from two official series, not a sale price. The ACS figure has a margin of error, published in the CSV.
- Nothing here is a lender quote or financial advice.
Update schedule
Mortgage rates: weekly after Freddie Mac’s Thursday release. Fed figures: after each decision. FHFA index: quarterly. ACS: yearly (the 2025 1-year file was not yet on the Census download site when this page was published).