Key Takeaways
- Mortgage rates slid this week to their lowest level since October, trimming monthly costs for homebuyers nationwide.
- Boston had the steepest percentage decline, with payments down more than 8%, while Los Angeles buyers saw the biggest dollar drop, at almost $450 per month.
- Among the 16 metro areas with the sharpest monthly declines, Buffalo was the most affordable at $1,439, with Birmingham close behind at $1,510.
- Every one of the 50 largest metros saw monthly payments ease compared with a month ago. See our full list to find your city.
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Mortgage Rates Dropped This Week to Their Lowest Level Since October
Rates on 30-year new purchase mortgages had been easing since late July. But on Monday, a three-day slide pulled the flagship average down to 6.48%—its lowest point in 11 months. The last time rates were this low was Oct. 4, 2024, when the average sank to 6.43%.
That’s a meaningful shift from a month earlier, when the Aug. 8 average was a much higher 6.78%.
Of course, mortgage rates aren’t the same everywhere. Each state has its own average 30-year rate, and as of Sept. 8, the spread ran from a low of 6.35% in Florida to a high of 6.52% in West Virginia.
Layer on the fact that median home prices also slipped last month—varying by metro just like mortgage rates—and the result is clear: Monthly payments on new loans improved more in some areas of the country than in others.
The 16 Cities Giving Buyers the Biggest Break This Month
In some of the nation’s largest housing markets, the combination of lower rates and shifting prices delivered especially steep relief. To measure the change, we used the latest median home prices from Realtor.com’s August Monthly Housing Report and calculated monthly principal-and-interest payments with Sept. 8’s 30-year average mortgage rate. We then compared those figures to payments based on Aug. 8 rates and the prior month’s median prices.
That approach shows how much payments shifted in just one month—and in some metros, the relief was especially striking. In Boston, the typical new loan payment dropped more than 8%, cutting over $350 from the monthly bill compared with a month earlier—the steepest percentage decline among the 50 biggest metros. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, where homes are far pricier, buyers saw a cut of almost $450 a month, a 7.5% improvement.
Relief wasn’t limited to the costliest cities. Among the 16 metros with the sharpest declines, Buffalo had the lowest average payment on Sept. 8, down 6.2% to $1,439. Birmingham, Alabama, followed closely at $1,510 after a 6.6% drop, making the two cities the most affordable markets in this group.
Here’s the complete list of the 16 metros where payments dropped the most this month, showing both the dollar and percentage savings compared with August.
16 Metros Where Mortgage Payments Fell the Most
Metro area (sorted by % change)
Average payment on Aug 8
Average payment on Sep 8
Monthly change ($)
Monthly change (%)
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
$4,382
$4,028
-$354
-8.1%
Richmond, VA
$2,342
$2,160
-$181
-7.7%
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI
$2,229
$2,060
-$169
-7.6%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
$5,947
$5,499
-$448
-7.5%
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
$5,113
$4,749
-$365
-7.1%
Birmingham, AL
$1,617
$1,510
-$107
-6.6%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
$5,126
$4,794
-$333
-6.5%
Jacksonville, FL
$2,120
$1,986
-$133
-6.3%
Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
$1,535
$1,439
-$96
-6.2%
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$1,764
$1,657
-$108
-6.1%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
$2,646
$2,489
-$157
-5.9%
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
$2,132
$2,010
-$122
-5.7%
Columbus, OH
$2,047
$1,930
-$117
-5.7%
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
$2,654
$2,505
-$149
-5.6%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$2,285
$2,159
-$126
-5.5%
Kansas City, MO-KS
$2,084
$1,970
-$114
-5.5%
Median home prices provided by Realtor.com. Historical mortgage rate averages provided by the Zillow Mortgage API based on the state of the primary city.
How the Rest of the 50 Biggest Metros Stack Up
While those 16 metros saw the steepest monthly savings, there’s good news for everyone—payments declined across all 50 of the largest metros. To help you find the market you care about, the table below shows the monthly dollar and percentage changes for the other 34 metro areas, listed alphabetically.
Monthly Mortgage Payment Changes in the Other 34 Metros
Metro area (alphabetical)
Average payment on Aug 8
Average payment on Sep 8
Monthly change ($)
Monthly change (%)
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
$2,181
$2,083
-$98
-4.5%
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
$2,084
$1,997
-$86
-4.2%
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
$2,332
$2,209
-$123
-5.3%
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
$1,956
$1,884
-$72
-3.7%
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
$1,825
$1,745
-$80
-4.4%
Cleveland, OH
$1,402
$1,334
-$68
-4.8%
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
$3,123
$3,018
-$105
-3.4%
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
$1,460
$1,402
-$58
-4.0%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
$2,339
$2,259
-$81
-3.4%
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$1,922
$1,832
-$90
-4.7%
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$1,736
$1,644
-$92
-5.3%
Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV
$2,480
$2,379
-$101
-4.1%
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
$1,695
$1,608
-$87
-5.1%
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
$1,769
$1,673
-$96
-5.4%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
$2,255
$2,180
-$75
-3.3%
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
$2,836
$2,713
-$123
-4.3%
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
$3,972
$3,831
-$141
-3.5%
Oklahoma City, OK
$1,700
$1,615
-$85
-5.0%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
$2,215
$2,104
-$111
-5.0%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
$1,999
$1,906
-$94
-4.7%
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$2,623
$2,494
-$129
-4.9%
Pittsburgh, PA
$1,310
$1,274
-$37
-2.8%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
$3,126
$3,013
-$113
-3.6%
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
$3,165
$3,010
-$155
-4.9%
Raleigh-Cary, NC
$2,387
$2,284
-$103
-4.3%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
$3,106
$2,994
-$112
-3.6%
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
$3,236
$3,099
-$137
-4.2%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
$7,113
$6,888
-$225
-3.2%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$4,071
$3,898
-$173
-4.3%
St. Louis, MO-IL
$1,563
$1,508
-$56
-3.6%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
$2,153
$2,066
-$88
-4.1%
Tucson, AZ
$2,000
$1,925
-$75
-3.8%
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
$2,160
$2,078
-$82
-3.8%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
$3,204
$3,033
-$171
-5.3%
Median home prices provided by Realtor.com. Historical mortgage rate averages provided by the Zillow Mortgage API based on the state of the primary city.
The question now is whether rates can hold near these lows—or even fall further—heading into the rest of 2025. For that we’ll have to wait and see.
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The national and state averages cited above are provided as is via the Zillow Mortgage API, assuming a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80% (i.e., a down payment of at least 20%) and an applicant credit score in the 680–739 range. The resulting rates represent what borrowers should expect when receiving quotes from lenders based on their qualifications, which may vary from advertised teaser rates. © Zillow, Inc., 2025. Use is subject to the Zillow Terms of Use.