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Volume XXVI, Number XLI | October 12, 2026
THIS WEEK'S NUMBER
+$244 a month
What this fall's rate climb added to the monthly payment on a conventional (standard) loan for a $600,000 home with 20% down, between August 27 and October 7. The 30-year rate rose seven weeks in a row, from 6.65% on August 20 to 7.40% on October 8, its highest since November 2023.
If you started shopping in late summer, the same house now costs about 8% more each month. Prices of everything except housing rose 3.6% in the full year through August 2026. On a fixed-rate loan, where the rate never changes, that extra cost stays for the life of the loan unless you refinance.
How Much More Does Each Loan Cost Now?
All three loans in the chart cost 7% to 9% more a month on October 7 than on August 27, counting the mortgage insurance the FHA loan requires. These figures leave out property taxes and homeowners insurance. With 20% down, the conventional loan needs no monthly mortgage insurance, and the VA loan needs none either.
FHA loans are backed by the government and built for small down payments, and the buyer pays mortgage insurance that protects the lender. On a $400,000 home with 3.5% down, an FHA loan now costs $191 more a month, mortgage insurance included. A VA loan for a veteran buying an $800,000 home with nothing down costs $455 more.
What Could Your Tallahassee Home Sell For?
Enter your address to compare three home-value estimates in one place. It is a useful starting point for planning your next move.
Have Tallahassee Buyers Pulled Back?
In September, buyers and sellers signed contracts on 205 Leon County homes, against a September average of 249 from 2007 to 2025. Every month since May has run below normal, with July the weakest at 25% under.
One More Data Point
The 30-year rate has averaged 7.68% since 1971, so today's 7.40% sits a little below normal. It feels high because many buyers remember the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, when the rate stayed under 3.7%.
What It Means for You
Buying? Set your payment first, then shop only in the price range it allows. If you planned on a $400,000 home with an FHA loan in August, the same house now costs $191 more a month, mortgage insurance included. Build your plan around today's rate; if it falls later, that is good news your plan never had to count on.
Selling? Buyers signed contracts on 205 homes in September, against a September average of 249. With fewer buyers shopping, a price above what your home is worth sends them to the next house on their list.
Own a home with a fixed-rate loan? Your payment did not change. The next buyer's did, and that buyer's budget sets what your home can sell for.
Our full report has six graphs, including the 30-year rate for every month since 1971 and why borrowing costs climbed this fall. It also shows how the cost of owning a median-priced Leon County home has outrun everything else since 2000.
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Until later,
Joe Manausa MBA
Joe Manausa Team at Xcellence Realty