Rates have jumped from 3.76% to 4.67% in just March alone, significantly increasing the borrowing costs for buyers, Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, wrote for the association’s blog.

In the past three months, that amount has been increasing even more. For example, LendingTree offers the following example: A 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan worth $300,000 would have cost a buyer about $1,283 a month with the average rate on Dec. 30, 2021, of 3.11%. But at the current average rate of 4.67%, that monthly cost has jumped to $1,551—an increase of $268 a month, $3,216 a year, and $96,480 over the lifetime of the loan.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for the week ending March 31:
*30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.67%, with an average 0.8 points, rising from last week’s 4.42%. Last year at this time, they averaged 3.18%.
*15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.83%, with an average 0.8 points, up from last week’s 3.63% average. A year ago at this time, they averaged 2.45%.

Source: Freddie Mac and “Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, March 31, 2022,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog