News Number of the Day Homebuyers Face Daunting Increase in Monthly Payments By Diccon Hyatt Updated on March 24, 2022 Fact checked by Helen Reis Fact checked by Helen Reis Helen is the senior news editor for The Balance and a veteran journalist with more than 17 years of experience, mostly in business and finance news. She is passionate about making complicated topics easy for everyone to understand and compulsive about accuracy and transparency. learn about our editorial policies That’s how much the typical monthly payment on a new mortgage grew as interest rates shot up the first two months of the year. The median monthly payment on a new 30-year mortgage application rose to $1,653 in February from $1,383 in December, the Mortgage Bankers Association said, reflecting a sharp increase in the average mortgage rate (0.73 percentage point by the MBA’s measure) and ongoing increases in home prices. In fact, before 2022, it took years for the monthly payment to go up as much as it did just in those two months. (The payment reflects just principal and interest, not property taxes, insurance, or other homeowner expenses.) Now that mortgage rates are rising so quickly (and they’ve gone up even more sharply since February, crossing into 5% territory, according to lender data provided to The Balance) the question on everyone’s mind is whether price increases may begin to moderate. Prices soared as buyers competed for record-low numbers of listings during much of the pandemic, and while there are early signs that the rising rates may be shifting the supply and demand balance, it could take years for the for-sale listings to get back to normal levels, according to housing experts polled by real estate firm Zillow Feb. 16-March 2. When Zillow asked them when the inventory of unsold homes would return to at least a monthly average of 1.5 million—in February it was less than half of that, according to Zillow data—the most popular answer was 2024, shared by about 38% of experts, with 2023 a close second at about 37%. Only 4.2% thought inventory would be back to normal by the end of 2022, and over 20% said 2025 or later. The double-whammy of soaring home prices and rising mortgage rates has pushed monthly payments skyward much faster than homebuyers’ incomes have increased, according to MBA, which started to track the median monthly payments for a new index it created to measure home affordability. The index, which goes higher as a greater share of income is used for the mortgage payment, jumped 19% in the first two months of the year. Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Mortgage Bankers Association. “Median Mortgage Application Payment Jumped 8.3 Percent in February to $1,653.” Zillow. “Experts Predict at Least Two More Years Before Housing Inventory Climbs to Pre-Pandemic Levels.”