Here Are The Total Savings If You Bought Your House In December, Instead Of October

This year has been a bear on the mortgage market as the average interest rate for the most popular long-term mortgage — 30-year fixed — is more than double what it was a year ago.

What Happened: A closer look reveals that mortgage rates ebbed and flowed throughout 2022. On the low end — Jan. 13, 2022 — rates were 3.45%. On the high end — Oct. 27, 2022 — rates were 7.08%.

Still, in October, some 4.43 million homes in the US were sold.

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The gap between 3.45%, and 7.08% literally translates to hundreds of dollars in extra monthly costs on a homeowners mortgage.

Mortgage rates have since declined for six straight weeks. In December, the 30-year fixed dropped to 6.27%.

Why It Matters: Wondering how much that saves the typical homeowner in monthly mortgage costs? Well, if the October homebuyer waited until December to buy, they’d be saving roughly $300 on their monthly mortgage payment.

Home prices are falling, too. But, they have more room to come down, according to some economists. The typical U.S. home sold for roughly $352,000 during the four weeks ending Dec. 18, down 10% from a peak of $391,000 in June and up just 1% year over year, according to new data issued by Redfin Corp RDFN.

With prices and rates coming down, more prospective buyers are entering the market.

Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index, which tracks requests for tours and other Redfin homebuying services, was up 6.5% from a month ago, while mortgage-purchase applications saw a 4.6% uptick.

The increase in early-stage demand hasn’t translated to more pending home sales or new listings, according to Redfin’s economists.

As the holiday season is traditionally quiet, sales aren't expected to spike until mid-January, and new listings may not begin to recoup until spring.

Next: Home Sales Tumble As Refinancing Soars