The average 30-year fixed rate was 7.24% as of October 29, per Freddie Mac's national survey. It's a survey average, not any one lender's quote - and it's why the sharpest tool in a negotiation right now isn't a price cut. It's a seller credit.
Watch what the same money does in each form, using one example throughout: a $600,000 purchase with the buyer putting 10% down in every scenario, so a $540,000 loan to start, 30-year fixed at 7.24%, principal and interest only (before taxes, insurance, and any mortgage insurance).
A $10,000 price cut makes it a $590,000 purchase and a $531,000 loan, saving the buyer about $61 a month. Nice, but nobody's life changes at $61.
A seller credit that covers a full 2-1 temporary rate buydown on the $540,000 loan runs about $12,700, and it cuts the payment by roughly $700 a month in year one and about $360 a month in year two. The same $12,700 as a price cut - a $587,300 purchase, a $528,570 loan - saves about $78 a month. Same dollars, wildly different impact during the buydown years.
The trade-off is real too. The reduced payments last only for the two buydown years - in year three the loan returns to the full note-rate payment of $3,680 a month - while the price-cut savings continue for the entire loan term. The buyer also has to qualify under the lender's rules, and none of this assumes a refinance.
A credit goes straight at the monthly payment. In the example above, the same dollars move the payment further during the buydown years as a credit than as a cut. A credit also keeps the agreed gross price intact on the record - the concession is still disclosed in the MLS, appraisers see it, and it can factor into their adjustments, so it's about the headline number, not hiding anything.
Buydown cost and availability depend on the lender and the day's pricing, and credits have loan-program limits. This example is a teaching tool, not a quote: your buyer's lender sets the real numbers. But the shape of the trade is real.
If you're writing an offer this month, consider asking for the credit instead of the cut, then put it to the payment. And get the buydown priced by your lender in writing before you count on it.
Want the math run on a specific house with your actual numbers? Reach out before you write.
Sources: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (Oct 29, 2026); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Temporary Buydowns (buydown structure and qualification rules). Payment figures are illustrative, 30-year fixed, principal and interest only, with 10% down in every scenario. The buydown cost shown is the two-year subsidy the credit funds.
You’ve got questions and we can’t wait to answer them.