With some regularity I take a look at trends in mortgage interest rates... but nobody really specifically cares about their mortgage interest rate... they really care about their monthly housing payment.

The graph above shows how much monthly housing costs have changed over the past year.

A year ago, a home buyer purchasing a $300K house in the City of Harrisonburg, with a 20% down payment, would lock in a housing cost of just over $1300 per month.

Today, a home buyer purchasing a $300K house in the City of Harrisonburg, with a 20% down payment, would lock in a housing cost of just under $1800 per month.

The slight bit of good news, I suppose, is that this potential monthly housing cost has been edging down over the past month-ish from over $1900 to under $1800 as mortgage interest rates have started to decline a bit.

I don't think we're going to get back down anywhere close to the 3% ($1300) range in 2023 or 2024, but perhaps the monthly housing cost for a $300K home can work its way back down to $1700 (5.75%) or even $1600 (5.15%) over the next few years?