![Shopping Around for Mortgage Saves Borrowers $76,000+ Over Lifetime of Loan [New LendingTree Report]](https://realtytimes.com/images/k2/3418c53dd05e18e11c505a61b67217c5.jpg)
Though steep mortgage rates have made homebuying considerably more expensive than a few years ago, shopping around for a mortgage and comparing offers from different lenders could still help borrowers save a significant amount of money.
To show just how much money those who shop around could save, we analyzed data from 34,000 users of LendingTree's online loan marketplace who received two or more offers from mortgage lenders in 2024. Using this data, we determined how much borrowers in each of the nation’s 50 states could save if they chose the lowest APR offered instead of the highest. Here's what we found.
- Borrowers across the nation’s 50 states could save an average of $76,410 over the lifetime of their loans by shopping around for a mortgage. That breaks down to an average savings of $212 a month and $2,547 a year.
- Three states with expensive home prices, California, New Jersey and Hawaii, are where shopping around could save borrowers the most money. Respectively, borrowers in these states could save $131,190, $127,125 and $115,947 over the lifetime of their loans by shopping around.
- Even in the state where potential savings are lowest, South Dakota, borrowers could still save more than $35,000 over their loan’s lifetime by shopping around for a mortgage.
- Nationwide, the spread between the average highest and lowest APRs offered to borrowers who shopped around for a mortgage and received offers from two or more lenders is 92 basis points. This spread varies from as high as 146 basis points in Minnesota to as low as 58 in Alaska.
You can check out our full report here: https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/mortgage-shopping-study/
LendingTree's Senior Economist and report author, Jacob Channel, had this to say:
"Different lenders have different standards and criteria that they look at when deciding who to lend to. It’s for that reason that different lenders can offer such drastically different rates to the exact same people. And, by extension, it’s also why shopping around for a lender can help homebuyers save so much money."
