All the info above is well and good (and accurate), but I know you came here for some cold hard numbers. Our calculators include average monthly MI rates to help you get an overall sense of the cost of mortgage insurance. Let’s look at a scenario.
According to Zillow, the median sale price for a home in the US was $361,500 as of June 2024. Let’s say you have good credit and $36,000 for a down payment of approximately 10%, and your interest rate is 6.5%. Entering this scenario into our Buy Now vs. Wait Calculator shows that MI would add $111 to your monthly mortgage payment. That’s nothing to sneeze at – but keep in mind that monthly PMI usually doesn’t last forever. Once you reach 20% equity in your home based on the original value, you can request PMI be cancelled (in this example, you’d probably be able to cancel it in 4 or 5 years).
Changing any of the factors of the scenario above can change your monthly MI payment. For example, assuming all other variables above remain the same:
- If you have excellent credit instead of good credit, your monthly MI payment could be $76 instead of $111
- If you put down $11,000 (about 3%) instead of $36,000 (about 10%), your monthly MI payment could be $164 instead of $111
- If the home price is $250,000 instead of $361,500, your monthly MI payment could be $54 instead of $111
I hope these numbers help you get an overall sense of what MI costs – but I want to stress again that the only way to know what MI might really cost in your specific situation is to talk to a lender.
