Tempe 85281 Mortgage Calculator

Tempe 85281 mortgage calculator: estimate a payment near ASU and Town Lake

ZIP code 85281 covers north Tempe, including Arizona State University's main campus, downtown Tempe, and the neighborhoods around Tempe Town Lake. It is a mixed market of older single-family homes, condos, and townhomes, with a lot of buyers who are students' parents, university staff, or investors. This page gives you current 85281 numbers, a worked example, and the Arizona property tax and down payment rules that shape a real estimate. Summit Lending LLC (NMLS 2394434) is a mortgage broker licensed in Arizona. We compare loans from multiple wholesale lenders, so you can turn this estimate into an actual quote.

When you are ready, start a mortgage preapproval or read about home purchase loans.

Summit Lending LLC, NMLS 2394434, is based at 4542 W 14800 N, Garland, UT 84312 and serves borrowers in Utah, Texas, Idaho, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Arizona. Call 385-200-1470 or email [email protected].

85281 numbers to start with

Redfin put the 85281 median sale price at about $426,503 for August 2026, down 8.3% from a year earlier. About 70 homes sold that month, the typical home took around 55 days to go under contract, and homes sold for about 95.6% of list price. Roughly 39.8% of listings had a price drop (Redfin 85281 data). That is a buyer-friendly picture: sellers are negotiating, and asking for seller credits toward closing costs or a rate buydown is realistic here.

For context, Redfin put Arizona's statewide median at about $428,217, down 0.88%, with about 48,440 homes for sale, a typical 66 days on market, and about five months of supply (Redfin Arizona data). The 85281 median includes a large share of condos, so a single-family home in the ZIP can cost well above that figure. Use a price that matches the property type you want.

Rates set the base of every estimate. Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.28% for the week of October 1, 2026, up from 7.03% a week earlier and 6.34% a year ago. The 15-year average was 6.60% (Freddie Mac PMMS; history on FRED). Those are national averages for borrowers with strong credit and roughly 20% down, not Tempe quotes. Freddie Mac publishes a new reading every Thursday (PMMS page), so if you are running numbers a few weeks from now, update the rate first.

What goes into an 85281 payment

• Principal and interest. The calculator's core result.
• Property tax. Based on Arizona's limited property value system, explained below.
• Homeowners insurance. Condo owners usually need an HO-6 policy for the interior, while the association insures the building.
• Mortgage insurance. PMI on conventional loans with less than 20% down, or FHA's annual premium.
• HOA dues. Common for condos and townhomes near campus and Town Lake, and they can be substantial. Ask for the current budget and any planned special assessments.

Condos also bring a financing wrinkle: FHA and some conventional programs look at the condo project itself, not just you. If you are shopping condos, ask your lender early whether the specific complex is eligible for the loan type you want.

How Arizona property tax works

Arizona does not tax a home on what you paid for it. Each property has a full cash value and a limited property value, and most taxes are figured on the limited value. Since 2015, under Proposition 117, the limited value can rise by no more than 5% a year and can never exceed the full cash value (Arizona Department of Revenue). A home you live in as your primary residence is Class 3 property, assessed at 10% of its limited value, and owner-occupied homes also receive a homeowner rebate on part of the school district tax, shown as a line on the bill (Arizona Property Taxation). The Arizona Constitution also caps the primary tax levied on residential property at 1% of its limited value, although voter-approved bonds and overrides and many special district levies are outside that cap (Arizona Constitution, Article 9, Section 18).

What this means for your estimate: the seller's bill is usually a good guide, but it is not guaranteed. If the home was a rental, it may have been taxed in a different class without the owner rebate, and your bill could drop after you file it as a primary residence. If values in the area have risen quickly, the limited value may still be catching up, so expect modest increases of up to 5% a year in the taxable value even if the price you paid was much higher.

Worked example: a $425,000 home in 85281

Take a $425,000 home with 10% down. The loan is $382,500. At 7.28%, principal and interest on a 30-year fixed is about $2,617 a month. At last year's 6.34%, it would have been about $2,378, so the rate change alone adds about $240 a month.

A 15-year fixed at 6.60% raises principal and interest to about $3,353, but total interest falls to about $221,049, compared with about $559,660 over 30 years at 7.28%. Then add tax, insurance, PMI, and HOA dues. On a condo with a high monthly HOA fee, the dues can change what you qualify for as much as a quarter point on the rate.

How the loan type changes your Arizona result

Most online calculators assume a conventional loan with a fixed rate, which can make the number look better or worse than what you would actually get. Here is how the same $425,000 Arizona home changes by program, using the 7.28% survey average as a stand-in rate. Your actual rate will differ by program and profile.

Conventional

Qualified buyers can put as little as 3% down on a one-unit primary home, which is $12,750 on $425,000 (Fannie Mae eligibility matrix). Below 20% down you pay private mortgage insurance, and you can ask to cancel it once the balance reaches 80% of the original value (CFPB on PMI). PMI is priced by credit score and down payment, so add it as a separate line in the calculator rather than guessing.

FHA

FHA requires 3.5% down with a 580 or higher score (HUD FHA overview). It also adds two insurance costs a basic calculator often skips: an upfront premium of 1.75% that is usually financed into the loan, and an annual premium paid monthly. For a base loan of $726,200 or less with more than 95% loan-to-value, the annual rate is 0.55% (HUD Mortgagee Letter 2023-05). On $425,000 with 3.5% down, the base loan is $410,125, the upfront premium adds $7,177, and principal and interest on $417,302 is about $2,855 at 7.28%. The monthly premium adds roughly $188, for about $3,043 before taxes and insurance. The 2026 FHA one-unit limit in Maricopa County is $557,750, so this price fits.

VA

Eligible veterans and service members can buy with no down payment and no monthly mortgage insurance (VA purchase loans). A one-time funding fee applies unless you are exempt, and for first use with less than 5% down it is 2.15% of the loan (VA funding fee). Financing that fee on $425,000 brings the loan to about $434,138, with principal and interest near $2,970 at 7.28%.

USDA

USDA guaranteed loans allow no down payment in eligible rural areas for households under the income limits (USDA guaranteed loans). Tempe is not USDA eligible, but some rural parts of Arizona are. Check an address on the USDA eligibility map before you count on it.

2026 loan limits in Maricopa County

The 2026 conforming loan limit is $832,750 for a one-unit home in every Arizona county (FHFA announcement, FHFA county file). The FHA one-unit limit in Maricopa County is $557,750 (HUD announcement, HUD lookup). Above $832,750, you would need a jumbo loan.

Down payment help in Arizona

The Arizona Industrial Development Authority's Home Plus program is available statewide, in every county, city, and ZIP code. It offers up to 4% of assistance for down payment and closing costs, paired with a Home Plus first mortgage. Household income cannot exceed $155,386 (as of April 6, 2026), and one borrower has to complete a homebuyer education course before closing. The assistance is a no-interest, no-payment second mortgage that is forgiven after 60 months, but it has to be repaid if you sell or refinance within those five years (Arizona IDA Home Plus). The interest rate on a Home Plus first mortgage can be slightly higher than a market rate, so ask your lender to compare total payments with and without it.

Arizona IDA's separate Arizona Is Home program is not an option for the rest of 2026. The authority says its 2026 funds are exhausted and the program was retired for the remainder of the year as of October 6, 2026 (Arizona IDA lender information).

Buying near campus as a parent or investor

Some 85281 buyers are parents buying a home for a student to live in. If the student is not on the loan and you will not live there, lenders usually treat it as an investment property, with larger down payment requirements and higher rates than a primary home. Some lenders do allow family-occupied arrangements on better terms, so tell your loan officer the plan up front. If you will live in the home yourself and rent out spare rooms, that is a different situation, and lenders look at the rental income under their own rules.

From a calculator estimate to a real number

1. Run a few scenarios here. Try two prices, two down payments, and both a 30-year and 15-year term so you know your range.
2. Get preapproved. A preapproval means a lender checked your credit, income, and assets. The CFPB points out that lenders use the terms prequalification and preapproval differently, so ask what was verified (CFPB comparison). Several mortgage credit checks within 45 days count as one inquiry for most scoring models, so shopping does not hurt your score more than once (CFPB on credit checks).
3. Compare Loan Estimates. Lenders must send a Loan Estimate within three business days of your application, and the standard format makes side-by-side comparison easy (CFPB on Loan Estimates).
4. Watch your debt-to-income ratio. Lenders compare your monthly debts, including the new payment, to gross monthly income (CFPB on DTI). A payment that fits your budget can still be too high for a program limit, or the reverse.
5. Check the final numbers. Your Closing Disclosure arrives at least three business days before closing. Compare it to your Loan Estimate line by line (CFPB on Closing Disclosures).

Calculators for nearby ZIP codes

Other Tempe ZIP codes: 85282, 85283, 85284, 85285, and 85280. West Valley: 85380, 85381, 85382, 85383, 85385, and 85387. Tucson area: 85705, 85704, 85706, and 85707.

Related pages

Already own a home? Compare refinance options. Building instead of buying? See construction loans. Homeowners 62 and older can read about reverse mortgages, and first-time buyers can start with our first-time home buyer guide. The main loan calculator page has calculators for every state we serve.

Sources

• Redfin, 85281 housing market
• Redfin, Arizona housing market
• Freddie Mac PMMS, Oct 1, 2026 release
• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey
• FRED, 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average
• Arizona Department of Revenue, Limited Property Value (PDF)
• Arizona Department of Revenue, Arizona Property Taxation (PDF)
• Arizona Constitution, Article 9, Section 18
• Arizona IDA, Home Plus down payment assistance
• Arizona IDA, Home Plus lender information
• Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix
• CFPB, private mortgage insurance
• HUD, Let FHA loans help you
• HUD Mortgagee Letter 2023-05, FHA annual MIP (PDF)
• VA purchase loan
• VA funding fee and closing costs
• USDA Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program
• USDA property eligibility map
• FHFA, 2026 conforming loan limits
• FHFA 2026 county loan limit list
• HUD No. 25-145, 2026 FHA loan limits
• HUD FHA mortgage limits lookup
• CFPB, prequalification vs. preapproval
• CFPB, when a lender checks your credit
• CFPB, What is a Loan Estimate?
• CFPB, debt-to-income ratio
• CFPB, What is a Closing Disclosure?

Information on this page is for general education and is current as of October 2026. It is not a commitment to lend or a rate quote. Program rules, limits, and availability change, and approval depends on your credit, income, assets, property, and lender guidelines. Summit Lending LLC, NMLS 2394434. Equal Housing Opportunity.