San Diego County Mortgage Payment Calculator

Rates move weekly. This page does not quote one. Put today's number into the calculator and it does the rest.

Most rate articles tell you what the 30-year average is, then go stale in a week. What actually matters is what a rate does to the payment on the kind of house you are looking at, here, today. So use the calculator, then read why the number it gives you is not the whole number.

The payment is not the payment

Here is where most rate articles quietly mislead people. Principal and interest is one piece of what leaves your account every month, and on a San Diego County house it is usually not much more than three quarters of it.

The payment you budgeted for and the payment you actually make are usually about a thousand dollars apart. Know that before you fall for a house, not after.

The insurance line is the one that surprises people most right now. Premiums have climbed sharply in California, and on some properties the only available coverage is the state's FAIR Plan. That changes the monthly number and it can change whether the deal works at all. Here is how to handle the insurance question before it becomes an emergency.

Should you wait for rates to drop?

Run it both ways in the calculator and you will see the honest version. A lower rate genuinely buys you more house at the same payment. It also brings everyone else who was waiting into your price range at the same moment, which is how you end up in a bidding war for the thing you were being patient about.

Both are true. Anyone who tells you only one of them is selling you something.

"Marry the house, date the rate" gets repeated so often it has stopped meaning anything. Here is the version with the fine print attached: refinancing later is real, but it is not free and it is not guaranteed. It costs money, it depends on rates actually falling, and it depends on you still qualifying when they do. Plan the purchase around a payment you can carry at today's rate. Treat a future refinance as upside, not as the plan.

And a quoted rate is not your rate. Headline averages describe a borrower with strong credit and a conventional loan. Yours depends on credit score, down payment, loan type, property type and whether you pay points. A condo, a VA loan, a jumbo and a conforming loan on the same day can be meaningfully different.

Where rates have been

Context, because the reaction to a 6% rate only makes sense if you know the range. This chart updates itself weekly from the Federal Reserve, so it is always current.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage average since 1971. Rates peaked near 18% in the early 1980s, fell under 3% in 2021, and have settled into the 6% range. Source: Freddie Mac via FRED, updated weekly. Shaded bands are U.S. recessions.

• 1970s and early 1980s. Rates ran 7% to 8%, then climbed to nearly 18% in the early 1980s as the Federal Reserve fought inflation.
• 1990s through the mid 2000s. A long decline, from roughly 8% down to the 5% to 6% range.
• After 2008. The Fed cut aggressively and the 30-year fixed dropped below 5%. A refinance wave followed.
• 2010s. Mostly 3% to 5%.
• 2020 and 2021. Pandemic-era lows, with some 30-year fixed loans under 3%. Historically unusual, and worth remembering as the exception rather than the baseline.
• 2022 onward. A fast climb as the Fed tightened, settling into the 6% range.

The long-run average sits well above where we are now. Today's rate feels expensive because of what it followed, not because of what it is.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate a mortgage payment in San Diego County?

Start with principal and interest based on the loan amount, rate and term, then add property tax at roughly 1.1% to 1.25% of purchase price annually, homeowners insurance, and any HOA dues or Mello-Roos special tax. The calculator above does all of it at once.

Should I wait for mortgage rates to drop before buying?

A lower rate increases what you can afford at the same payment, but it also brings more buyers into your price range and typically increases competition. Run both scenarios in the calculator and decide based on the payment you can carry today rather than a rate you are hoping for.

How much does a half point change my mortgage payment?

It depends on the loan size. The calculator shows your payment half a point above and half a point below whatever rate you enter, along with roughly how much more or less house the same payment would buy.

What is the highest mortgage rates have ever been?

The 30-year fixed average peaked near 18% in the early 1980s.

Are mortgage rates the only thing that decides my payment?

No. Property taxes, homeowners insurance, HOA dues and Mello-Roos special taxes all sit on top of principal and interest, and together they commonly add more than a thousand dollars a month on a San Diego County home.

What is Mello-Roos and will I have to pay it?

Mello-Roos is a special tax funding public infrastructure in a Community Facilities District. Most San Diego developments built from the early 2000s onward sit inside one, including large parts of Carlsbad and San Marcos. Amounts vary by parcel, and two homes on the same street can owe different amounts.

Want the math on a specific house?

Send me an address and I will run the real numbers on it. Not an estimate, the actual tax bill on that parcel, the insurance picture, and any Mello-Roos attached to it.

Call or text 760-274-0991 or email kyle@buyorsellsocal.com.

There are no stupid questions. Rates confuse everyone, including people who do this for a living.

Kyle Souza | Buy Or Sell SoCal Homes | Keller Williams
Serving San Diego County since 2005. More than 600 families.
DRE 01506738

Rate history source: Freddie Mac, 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average in the United States (MORTGAGE30US), retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.