I remember checking mortgage rates back in May 2023 and it was pretty wild how much they'd moved. The 30-year fixed was sitting at 6.94%, which felt pretty high at the time, and 15-year mortgages were around 6.19%. If you were looking at jumbo mortgages, those were even steeper at 6.99%. Those May 2023 mortgage rates were a reality check for a lot of people trying to buy.

What struck me most was how the numbers broke down on actual monthly payments. On a 100k loan with that 6.94% rate for 30 years, you're looking at roughly 661 bucks a month just in principal and interest, not counting taxes or anything else. Over the life of the loan, that adds up to around 138k in interest alone. The 15-year option was tighter at 854 a month but you'd pay way less interest overall, around 53k.

If you had the cash for a jumbo mortgage back then, it wasn't much better. Those rates hit 6.99%, meaning on a 750k loan you'd be paying close to 5k a month. The only bright spot was the 5/1 ARM sitting at 5.73% if you wanted to gamble on rates dropping later. Looking back at May 2023 mortgage rates now, it's interesting to see how the market was moving around that time.