Rates moved down in 2026 and buyers keep asking what that does to their budget. The arithmetic is simple, and it is worth doing before you fall for a house.
The payment math
On a loan of around $800,000, each half point of rate works out to roughly a couple of hundred dollars a month over thirty years. That is real money, but it is smaller than the headlines suggest.
What lower rates do to prices
When borrowing gets cheaper, more buyers show up and prices tend to firm. A lower rate helps most when you use it to secure a house you like at today's price, not to wait for a better one.
Get a real pre-approval
Ask your lender for a fully underwritten pre-approval, not a two-minute online letter. Seattle sellers can tell the difference, and it lets you write a clean offer with a short financing contingency.
