The average mortgage rate on 30-year fixed home loans declined to 6.19% for the week ending Oct. 23, down from 6.27% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. Rates averaged 6.54% during the same period in 2024.

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.

The typical monthly payment on a median-priced $425,000 home at today’s 6.19% mortgage rate is roughly $2,078. (That’s assuming a 20% down payment and excluding taxes and insurance.)

Last week, a median-priced home at a 6.27% rate would have cost buyers about $2,094 per month—just $16 more than what buyers would pay today.

Yet, if you compare today’s rates with the peak of 7.79% in October 2023, homebuyers are far better off now.

In October 2023, a median-priced $440,950 home with 20% down would have meant a $2,537 monthly payment—about $459 more per month, or roughly $5,500 a year, than buyers would pay today.

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

Assuming a 3.5% down payment and excluding tax and insurance, the typical payment at today’s 6.19% mortgage rate on a median-priced $425,000 home is roughly $2,489 per month.

Last week, a median-priced home at a 6.27% mortgage rate would have cost homebuyers $2,507 per month—$18 more than what buyers would pay today.

Nonetheless, mortgage payments at today’s rates on a median-priced home are still a $300-per-month improvement over October 2023, when a median-priced home at a 7.79% mortgage rate would have cost homebuyers $3,060 per month.

When you multiply these monthly payments by 30 years, the savings really add up.

If you buy a $425,000 house at today’s 6.19% rate with a 20% down payment, you’ll pay a total of $748,080 over the life of a 30-year loan.

By contrast, the median priced $440,950 home with 20% down in October 2023, when rates peaked at 7.79%, would have cost $913,320 over 30 years—$165,240 more than buyers would pay today.

Turning to FHA loans, if you put down 3.5% on a $425,000 home financed at 6.19% today, your 30-year total would be $899,640.

If you’d bought a $440,950 home with 3.5% down in October 2023 at 7.79%, the loan would have totaled $1,100,160—$200,520 more than buyers would pay now.

Dina Sartore-Bodo contributed to this report.