Thinking about buying a home? Now could be a good time to do it.

The current average 30-year fixed rate mortgage as of Aug. 11, 2022 was 5.46%, according to BankRate’s analysis. Although that rate is lower than July’s average rate of 5.73%, it remains much higher than Aug. 12, 2021’s average rate of 2.87% according to Freddie Mac’s analysis.

Higher mortgage rates tend to decrease homebuyers’ purchasing power. This means that a potential homebuyer may have to consider getting a less expensive home with the same budget than they would be able to afford with a lower mortgage rate.

With a median home price of $416,000, it’s much more expensive to purchase a home now than it was a year ago according to the National Association of Realtors.

And as of Aug. 12, 2022, Freddie Mac predicts that home prices are likely to continue to slowly increase throughout the rest of the summer. The good news is that the housing market is stabilizing, according to the company, which is why it may be a good time to buy.

If you’re thinking about buying a home, use the mortgage calculator below to figure out how much your monthly payments could be. Just enter the mortgage loan amount, length of time in years and interest rate.

It’s important to note that this calculator can only give you an estimate of what your payment on the loan would be and doesn’t include additional expenses such as insurance, private mortgage insurance (PMI) and property taxes.