Buyers Now Pay More in Mortgage Interest Than Their Home Costs

Over 30 years, the typical home buyer pays $736,260 back to the lender on a $322,560 loan for the median-priced home, more than twice what they originally borrowed.

ST. LOUIS, June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A buyer who purchases the median-priced U.S. home today with 20% down will pay $413,700 in interest over a 30-year mortgage at the current 6.53% rate, according to a new report from Best Interest Financial and Clever Real Estate, a St. Louis-based real estate company.

That is $10,500 more than the home itself costs. Put another way, buyers will pay 102.6% of the home's price again in interest, a ratio that recently crossed 100% for the first time since September 2025.

At 2021's average rate of 2.96%, today's median home would cost $692 less a month, $8,306 less a year, or a staggering $249,188 less in interest over the life of the loan.

On the other hand, if today's rate climbed a single percentage point to 7.53%, the typical buyer would pay $78,066 more in lifetime interest. Putting down the FHA minimum of 3.5% instead of 20% adds even more, an extra $85,326 over the life of the loan.

Choosing a 15-year mortgage at today's 5.87% rate would save $250,378 over a 30-year loan, though it pushes the monthly payment up by $654.

Although loan decisions make a big impact, location matters just as much. Every metro studied shares the same 102.6% ratio but not the same dollar figure.

California claims five of the six most interest-burdened metros, while Ohio sits at the opposite extreme, home to four of the 10 metros where buyers pay the least in lifetime interest.

The metros with the highest lifetime interest are:

1. San Jose, CA ($1,718,620)
2. San Francisco, CA ($1,231,250)
3. Los Angeles, CA ($1,077,344)
4. Honolulu, HI ($1,041,843)
5. San Diego, CA ($992,695)
6. Oxnard, CA ($941,650)
7. Bridgeport, CT ($795,182)
8. Seattle, WA ($749,010)
9. New York, NY ($702,839)
10. Boston, MA ($682,318)

The most affordable metros for mortgage interest are:

1. Toledo, OH ($163,654)
2. Akron, OH ($184,688)
3. Scranton, PA ($207,517)
4. Cleveland, OH ($220,496)
5. Pittsburgh, PA ($220,599)
6. Dayton, OH ($221,112)
7. Syracuse, NY ($225,729)
8. McAllen, TX ($234,451)
9. Little Rock, AR ($235,990)
10. Rochester, NY ($241,120)

Read the full report at: https://bestinterest.com/research/how-much-is-mortgage-interest-2026/

About Best Interest Financial
At Best Interest Financial, borrowers come first, with personalized guidance and tailored mortgage options. Since 2024, hundreds of families have trusted Best Interest Financial to achieve their dream of homeownership. Now an affiliate of Clever Real Estate, a free agent-matching service that's saved consumers $240 million on Realtor fees since 2017, Best Interest shares a mission to connect people with the best solutions for every step of their real estate journey.

About Clever Real Estate
Clever Real Estate's content reaches over 10 million readers annually, and its nationwide agent matching service has a 5.0-star Trustpilot rating across 4,200+ customer reviews. Since launching in 2017, Clever has reached $16.1 billion in real estate sold, matched over 229,000 customers with realtors, and saved consumers over $240 million on commission fees. Clever's network spans over 13,000 agents across all 50 states.

CONTACT:
Alyssa Evans
Clever Real Estate
[email protected]
315-690-1518

SOURCE Best Interest Financial