The National Association of Realtors puts a number on what a first home costs each month. In its third-quarter 2026 metro home price report, NAR prices a typical starter home at $368,000 and assumes the buyer puts 10 percent down. On those terms, the monthly mortgage payment was $2,208 in the third quarter, up $46 from the second quarter and $67 from a year earlier. That payment took 36.3 percent of a typical family's income, up from 36.0 percent in the second quarter and down from 37.0 percent a year earlier.

For a buyer with 20 percent down on the typical existing single-family home, NAR's figures look different. That payment was $2,251 a month and took 24.1 percent of income. The larger down payment shrinks the loan, and the two calculations use different income assumptions, so the shares are not directly comparable.

What the starter-home number assumes

NAR's affordability figures are national estimates built from its own price data, a mortgage rate and income estimates. The starter-home calculation is meant to describe a buyer without existing home equity: a less expensive home, a smaller down payment and a household income typical of first-time buyers. Two things a real first purchase usually adds are not the focus of the headline figure: mortgage insurance, which most lenders require on a conventional loan with less than 20 percent down, and the local property tax and homeowners insurance bills, which vary widely by state.

Prices, by region

The report covers single-family existing-home prices in metro areas across the country for July through September. Nationally, the median price was $432,900, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose in 78 percent of metro areas, down from 80 percent in the second quarter, and fell in 21 percent.

  • Northeast: median $561,500, up 4.0 percent from a year earlier.
  • Midwest: $342,500, up 3.6 percent.
  • South: $374,900, up 1.0 percent.
  • West: $629,000, down 0.6 percent.

The largest gains among bigger markets were in Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi (up 11.0 percent), Rochester, New York (10.9 percent) and Jackson, Mississippi (10.1 percent). All ten of the most expensive markets were in California, Hawaii and Connecticut, led by San Jose at a median of $1.92 million.

What the payment figure leaves out

A national starter-home payment is an average across very different markets. In a Midwest metro where the median sits near $340,000, a 10 percent down payment buys more house than the national figure implies; in the West it buys considerably less. The figure also moves with mortgage rates, which have been above 7 percent for much of the fall, so a quote taken today can differ from a third-quarter average.

The numbers to bring to a lender

A buyer can run the same arithmetic on a real budget: the price range being considered, the down payment available, the rate a lender quotes, plus local property taxes, homeowners insurance and any mortgage insurance. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Loan Estimate form lists each of those items on its first page, and comparing two or three Loan Estimates for the same home is the most direct way to see what the monthly cost will actually be.

This article reports rules, data and expert guidance. It is not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Talk to a licensed pro, your tax advisor or your insurer before you act on it.

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