Mortgage Calculator: Here’s How Much You Need To Buy a $399,950 Home at a 6.16% Rate

Mortgage rates this week for a 30-year fixed loan increased to 6.16%, up from 6.15% last week. The rate is still at its lowest point in over a year.

So what impact does this have on your monthly mortgage payment? And what does this mean for homebuyers?

Here’s the monthly cost of purchasing a typical home today, according to the Realtor.com® mortgage calculator.

Monthly mortgage payment today with a 20% down payment

The typical monthly payment on a median-priced $399,950 home at today’s 6.16% mortgage rate is roughly $1,951. (That’s assuming a 20% down payment and excluding tax and insurance.)

Last week, the same median-priced home of $399,950 at a 6.15% mortgage rate would have cost homebuyers about $1,949 per month—roughly $2 less than what buyers would pay today.

Last year at this same time, when mortgage rates averaged 6.93%, the monthly payment on a $399,950 home would have been roughly $2,109—about $158 more per month than what buyers would pay today.

And if you look back at the peak mortgage rate of 7.79% in October 2023, a buyer who managed to secure a $399,950 home with 20% down would have faced a monthly payment of about $2,307 before taxes and insurance—roughly $356 more per month than today’s buyer.

Monthly mortgage payment today with a 3.5% down payment

For most borrowers, FHA loans require a 3.5% down payment.

Assuming that down payment and excluding taxes and insurance, the typical monthly payment at today’s 6.16% mortgage rate on a median-priced $399,950 home is roughly $2,355 per month.

Last week, that same home at $399,950 and a 6.15% mortgage rate would have cost buyers about $2,351 per month—roughly $4 less than today.

Last year at this same time, when mortgage rates averaged 6.93%, the monthly payment on a $399,950 home would have been approximately $2,542, about $187 more per month than what buyers would pay today.

Even so, today’s payments still represent a meaningful improvement over those in October 2023, when mortgage rates peaked at nearly 7.79%. At that rate, a buyer putting 3.5% down on a $399,950 home would have faced a monthly payment of roughly $2,771 before taxes and insurance—about $416 more per month than today.

Long-term savings over 30 years

When you stretch those monthly differences over the full life of a loan, the savings become substantial.

If you buy a $399,950 home today with a 20% down payment and a 6.16% mortgage rate, you’ll finance $319,960 and pay roughly $702,500 in total principal and interest over 30 years.

By contrast, a buyer who purchased a $399,950 home in October 2023 with 20% down—when mortgage rates peaked at 7.79%—would have financed about $319,960 and paid approximately $829,000 over the life of the loan.

That’s a difference of roughly $126,500 in total payments over 30 years.

Now, consider how those long-term costs stack up for FHA borrowers.

If you put 3.5% down on a $399,950 home at today’s 6.16% rate, you’d finance about $385,951 and pay approximately $847,000 in principal and interest over 30 years.

At the October 2023 peak, putting 3.5% down on a $399,950 home at a 7.79% rate would have resulted in a loan of about $385,951 and total payments of roughly $1.01 million over the life of the loan.

That’s a long-term savings of roughly $163,000 for FHA buyers purchasing at today’s rates instead of at the peak.