Durham mortgage calculator
What a Durham mortgage costs each month, how long it runs, what it costs in total, and how much sooner it ends if you pay a little more. Built on monthly compounding and the 30-year fixed loan, and it charges you private mortgage insurance for exactly as long as the law lets a lender charge it, which is the line most calculators leave out.
Calculator
The purchase
20.0% down. The minimum on this price is $12,750. At 20% or more there is no mortgage insurance.
A US lender qualifies you on debt-to-income rather than at a stress-test rate, so this payment is the payment. What varies is the rate you are quoted: credit score, points paid at closing and the lender itself move it by more than half a point.
The contract length, not the amortization. At the end of it you renew at whatever rates are then available.
Paying it down faster
Most lenders cap annual prepayments at 10–20% of the original principal, and charge a penalty above it. Check your own commitment before planning around a large lump sum.
Where the money goes, year by year
Early payments are almost all interest. The crossover (the year principal finally exceeds interest) is the real shape of an amortized loan, and it is much later than most people expect.
Show the first two years of the schedule
| Payment | Amount | Interest | Principal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,326.27 | $2,062.62 | $263.65 |
| 2 | $2,326.27 | $2,061.02 | $265.25 |
| 3 | $2,326.27 | $2,059.41 | $266.86 |
| 4 | $2,326.27 | $2,057.79 | $268.48 |
| 5 | $2,326.27 | $2,056.16 | $270.11 |
| 6 | $2,326.27 | $2,054.52 | $271.75 |
| 7 | $2,326.27 | $2,052.87 | $273.40 |
| 8 | $2,326.27 | $2,051.22 | $275.05 |
| 9 | $2,326.27 | $2,049.55 | $276.72 |
| 10 | $2,326.27 | $2,047.87 | $278.40 |
| 11 | $2,326.27 | $2,046.18 | $280.09 |
| 12 | $2,326.27 | $2,044.48 | $281.79 |
| 13 | $2,326.27 | $2,042.77 | $283.50 |
| 14 | $2,326.27 | $2,041.05 | $285.22 |
| 15 | $2,326.27 | $2,039.32 | $286.95 |
| 16 | $2,326.27 | $2,037.58 | $288.69 |
| 17 | $2,326.27 | $2,035.83 | $290.44 |
| 18 | $2,326.27 | $2,034.07 | $292.20 |
| 19 | $2,326.27 | $2,032.29 | $293.98 |
| 20 | $2,326.27 | $2,030.51 | $295.76 |
| 21 | $2,326.27 | $2,028.72 | $297.55 |
| 22 | $2,326.27 | $2,026.91 | $299.36 |
| 23 | $2,326.27 | $2,025.09 | $301.18 |
| 24 | $2,326.27 | $2,023.27 | $303.00 |
Derived from the figures above, not a lender's statement. A real schedule also depends on your closing date and the lender's rounding.
An estimate from published figures, not a lender quote.
PMI is the number to watch, not the rate
If you put down less than 20% the lender adds private mortgage insurance to the payment. It insures the lender, not you, and on the $424,990 Durham median sale it works out like this. At 5% down (a $403,741 loan) a representative rate is about 0.67% of the loan a year, or $225 a month. Federal law makes the lender terminate it automatically when the scheduled balance first reaches 78% of the purchase price, which on a 30-year loan at 7.28% happens in month 145. That is 12.1 years and about $32,700 of payments that buy you no equity at all. At 3% down it is $299 a month and roughly $46,000.
Two things shorten it. You can ask the lender to cancel at 80% rather than wait for 78%, which is a right under the Homeowners Protection Act if you are current on the loan, and paying extra principal gets you there faster, because the trigger is the balance on the schedule rather than what the house is worth. The calculator above moves the termination month when you add an extra payment. The first-time buyer programs matter here too: the state housing agency's assistance goes toward the down payment, and a larger down payment is the one thing that removes the insurance altogether.
The rate you are quoted is a personal number
This is the biggest difference from the Canadian pages on this site. There, CMHC publishes one premium schedule for the whole country and a lender either applies it or does not. Here the mortgage insurer prices you individually, mostly on credit score, and the same 5%-down loan can be quoted anywhere from about 0.4% to 1.3%. The bands used above are mid-market for a borrower around a 740 score. The loan rate itself moves too: Freddie Mac's survey had the 30-year fixed at 7.28% on 1 October 2026, against 6.34% a year earlier. Get a real quote before treating any of these totals as yours.
Monthly compounding, and why the Canadian number would be wrong
An American fixed-rate mortgage compounds monthly: the periodic rate is simply the annual rate divided by twelve. Canadian mortgages compound twice a year, which makes the same nominal rate slightly cheaper. On a $339,992 loan at 7.28% over 30 years the American payment is $2,326.27 and the Canadian convention would give $2,301.38: $25 a month, or about $9,000 over the life of the loan. This site runs both, and no page borrows the other country's arithmetic.
A biweekly plan is thirteen payments, not clever compounding
Paying half the monthly payment every two weeks means twenty-six half-payments a year, which is thirteen monthly payments' worth of money instead of twelve. On the benchmark loan with 20% down that takes a 30-year mortgage to about 24 years and saves roughly $129,600 in interest. There is nothing magic in it (it is simply paying about 8% more every year) and you can get the identical result by adding a twelfth of the payment to each monthly one, without a servicer's enrollment fee.
What this cannot tell you
The payment above is principal and interest, plus PMI where it applies. Your actual monthly bill will include property tax and homeowners insurance, which the lender will usually escrow: on a $424,990 house that is about $361 a month in tax at the 1.02% effective rate and roughly $198 in insurance, so about $2,885 all in at 20% down. That tax figure is an average, not your bill. Durham County and the City levy 57.92 and 43.71 cents per $100, 101.63 in all, on values from the 2025 revaluation, which the Department of Revenue measured at 100.23% of sale prices; the rate above is the combined rate times that ratio. Buying does not reset the assessment, so the seller's bill is the better guide to the first one, and short of new construction on the lot the value stays where the County set it until the 2029 revaluation. Inside the Downtown Business Improvement District the bill carries 7 cents per $100 more.
None of this includes the City's charges on the utility bill. A house inside the City of Durham has no stormwater line on its tax bill: the City bills stormwater by the impervious area on the lot, $5.70, $11.80 or $23.64 a month for a house and $68.40 a year for a townhouse or condominium, with water and sewer on the same bill, and yard waste collection is $7.50 a month for households that sign up. Those are the City's own figures for fiscal 2027. No separate garbage fee appears on the City's pages this site read, and the City says water and sewer rates rise 12% for the average customer this year, so read the seller's last utility bill as closely as the tax bill. It also cannot tell you your closing costs, which in North Carolina run to a closing attorney, an owner's title policy, an inspection, the Durham County Register of Deeds, and whatever the lender charges to originate the loan. The excise tax (North Carolina's transfer tax) is the seller's, not yours. For the full comparison against renting, use the rent versus buy calculator.
Sources
- Market Statistics (Market Tools): August 2026 dashboards for Durham City and Durham County · Durham Regional Association of REALTORS (Doorify MLS data, Domus Analytics) · retrieved Supports: The Durham Regional Association of REALTORS and the Doorify Multiple Listing Service (Previously TMLS) report the following information pertaining to the Durham housing market in August 2026, City of Durham, single-family residence and condominium: a median sale price of $424,990 in August 2026, up 3.7% on August 2025, on 283 closed sales, a median 30 days on market and 4.5 months of supply, from the dashboard image at https://durhamrealtors.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Durham-City.jpg, Durham County, 23 cities selected: a median sale price of $426,250, up 1.5%, on 308 closed sales, from https://durhamrealtors.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Durham-County.jpg, Data provided by Doorify MLS and updated 09/08/26
- 2026 Tax Rates (FY 2026-2027) · Durham County Tax Administration · retrieved Supports: Operating Taxes + Capital Finance: $0.5035 + $0.0757 = $0.5792, City of Durham (1) $0.4371 $0.5792 $1.0163, City of Durham BID (3) $0.5071 $0.5792 $1.0863; City of Durham + Municipal Service (BID): $0.4371 + $0.0700, Solid Waste Fee: $185.00, for County residents outside the City
- Sales assessment ratio studies as of January 1, 2025 · North Carolina Department of Revenue, Local Government Division · retrieved Supports: Durham County last reappraised in 2025, with its next reappraisal in 2029, A median sales assessment ratio of 100.23% for Durham: assessed values are 100.23% of sale prices, on sales from 1 January to 31 December 2024, An effective county tax rate of 0.5555% against a nominal 0.5542%, and a coefficient of dispersion of 6.17
- Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 1 October 2026 · Freddie Mac · retrieved Supports: A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.28% as of 1 October 2026, against 6.34% a year earlier
- Tax Rates · Durham County Tax Administration · retrieved Supports: 2025 Tax Rates (FY 2025-2026): City of Durham, City $0.4371, County $0.5542, total $0.9913, 2024 Tax Rates (FY 2024-2025): City of Durham, City $0.5962, County $0.7987, total $1.3949
- Durham Commissioners Approve $1.05 Billion Budget · Durham County · retrieved Supports: The Board of County Commissioners adopting the fiscal 2026-27 budget on 8 June 2026 with a County property tax rate increase of 2.5 cents, to 57.92 cents per $100 valuation
- Durham Approves $767 Million Budget With No Property Tax Rate Increase · City of Durham · retrieved Supports: The City Council adopting the fiscal 2026-27 budget, holding the property tax rate at 43.71 cents per $100 of assessed value despite a rare decrease in property tax revenue, The median home valued at $424,000 paying about $1,853 a year in City taxes, Water and sewer rates increasing 12% for the average customer
- Real Property/Reappraisal FAQs · Durham County Tax Administration · retrieved Supports: Durham County's most recent revaluation was effective January 1, 2025. Next reappraisal will be January 1, 2029, The tax office values property based on 100% fair market value as of the effective date of the last reappraisal, Durham County's last reappraisal was performed in 2019, An eight-year cycle, for a fast-growing county like Durham, creates more opportunity for inequities to grow
- From the Desk of the County Manager for August 22, 2025, Tax Bills Information · Durham County · retrieved Supports: As of January 1, 2025, all real property was assessed to 100% market value, establishing new assessed values until the next reappraisal (2029), The 2025 Reappraisal resulted in more than 10,000 appeals
- Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, middle tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical home value of $389,634 for the City of Durham (region 24457) in August 2026, against $403,339 in August 2025, down 3.4%
- Zillow Home Value Index, single-family and condominium series, by city · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: A typical single-family value of $392,384 for the City of Durham in August 2026, against $406,281 a year earlier, down 3.4%, A typical condominium value of $254,099 against $261,384, down 2.8%, from the condominium file
- Zillow Observed Rent Index, by city and single-family by metro · Zillow Research · retrieved Supports: An observed rent index of $1,659 for the City of Durham in August 2026, against $1,630 a year earlier, up 1.8%, A single-family observed rent index of $2,137 for the Durham metro area in August 2026, against $2,068 a year earlier, from the metro single-family file
- Durham, NC rental market data · RentCafe / Yardi Matrix · retrieved Supports: The average rent for an apartment in Durham is $1,562, a 0.34% increase compared to the previous year, when the average rent was $1,557, last updated 30 September 2026, Average rents of $1,343 studio, $1,422 one-bedroom, $1,632 two-bedroom and $1,951 three-bedroom
- Median household income, median home value, median gross rent by bedrooms, tenure and association fees, tables B19013, B25077, B25031, B25064, B25003, B25142 and B25143, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Durham city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved Supports: A median household income of $82,916 and a median owner-occupied home value of $439,400, 70,734 of 133,270 occupied homes owner-occupied, A median gross rent of $1,670: $1,455 for one bedroom, $1,712 for two and $1,989 for three, 35,466 owner-occupied units paying a required association or condominium fee, at a median of $69 a month, 2,859 of them $300 or more
- School enrollment by level, tables B14001 and B14007, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Durham city · United States Census Bureau, via the Census Reporter API · retrieved Supports: 290,103 residents aged 3 and over, 16,351 of them enrolled in college undergraduate years and 15,939 in graduate or professional school
- Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 2020 to 2025 · United States Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program · retrieved Supports: A population of 305,561 for Durham city on 1 July 2025, against 300,834 a year earlier and an estimates base of 283,881, Of the 2025 estimate, 305,116 in Durham County, 298 in Wake County and 147 in Orange County, Greensboro city at 308,667 on the same date, Raleigh at 506,306 and Charlotte at 964,784
- TIGERweb, 2020 Census incorporated places · United States Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: Durham city (GEOID 3719000): 283,506 residents and 128,005 housing units at the 2020 census
- 2025 Gazetteer files: places, North Carolina · United States Census Bureau · retrieved Supports: A land area of 119.945 square miles and a water area of 0.831 square miles for Durham city
- Stormwater Utility Fee · City of Durham · retrieved Supports: Current stormwater utility fees as of 1 July 2026: Tier 1 (less than 2,000 square feet of impervious area) $5.70 a month, Tier 2 (2,000 to 3,999) $11.80, Tier 3 (more than 3,999) $23.64, Individually owned townhomes and condominiums billed at the residential Tier 1 rate, $68.40 annually
- Yard Waste · City of Durham · retrieved Supports: Households that participate in the yard waste program pay a $7.50 monthly fee, which is added to their water bill: an annual fee of $90 broken into monthly payments
- Cart Information · City of Durham · retrieved Supports: A $1.50 monthly fee for each additional garbage or yard waste cart
- Solid Waste/Storm Water FAQs · Durham County Tax Administration · retrieved Supports: Solid waste decals mailed with the annual tax bill to County residents not living in the City limits of Durham, The County stormwater utility fee charged to developed properties in the unincorporated areas of Durham County
- 2024 proposed homeowners insurance increase settlement table · North Carolina Department of Insurance · retrieved Supports: Territory 270, the cities of Durham and Raleigh and Durham and Wake counties: a Rate Bureau request of 39.8%, settled at 7.5% from 1 June 2025 and 7.5% from 1 June 2026
- North Carolina homeowners insurance · NerdWallet · retrieved Supports: An average Durham premium of $2,380 a year, $198 a month, against $2,420 in Raleigh and $2,150 in Greensboro, A North Carolina average of $3,025 a year, on a sample policy with $400,000 in dwelling coverage, $300,000 in liability and a $1,000 deductible
- How much is homeowners insurance in Durham, North Carolina? · Insure.com · retrieved Supports: Homeowners in Durham pay an average of $2,719 per year for a policy with $300,000 in dwelling coverage, $100,000 in liability, and a $1,000 deductible
- Renters insurance in North Carolina · NerdWallet · retrieved Supports: An average Durham renters premium of $158 a year, $13 a month
- CRS eligible communities, April 2025 · Federal Emergency Management Agency · retrieved Supports: The City of Durham (NC 370086) in the Community Rating System at Class 7 since 1 October 2019, a 15% discount on flood insurance premiums in the special flood hazard area
These are estimates built from published figures, not a lender quote, a pre-approval or financial advice. Rates, premiums and state and federal rules change; confirm anything you plan to act on with a mortgage professional and read the sourcing methodology.