Is a Builder Rate Buydown Worth It in Columbus? The Math on 332 Sales

Walk into a Columbus new-construction model right now and the headline number on the board is not the price, it is the rate. Builders are advertising rate buydowns, 5.99 percent or lower, while the market sits at 7.40 percent, and the pitch is simple: take our rate, not a discount. On the $489,055 median new build, that buydown saves about $183 a month. It also hides what it costs you, which is about $22,225 in what you owe three years from now. Which one wins comes down to a single question most buyers never ask.

I pulled every 2026 new-construction closing in the Columbus MLS and ran the buydown-versus-price math on the median home. The answer, with the arithmetic, is below.

What is the mortgage rate in Columbus right now, and why does it matter?

The Freddie Mac 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.40 percent as of October 15, 2026, unchanged on the week and up from 6.27 percent a year ago. It has climbed for several weeks, after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate a quarter point on September 16, its first hike since 2023.

That high rate is why the buydown is the builder's lead incentive. When money is cheap, builders cut price. When rates are high and payment is the thing stopping buyers, builders attack the payment by buying the rate down. It works on a buyer's nerves because the monthly number drops immediately. The question is what you trade for that.

How much new construction is selling, and where?

This is a sizable market, not a handful of spec homes.

New construction, Columbus MLS, 2026	Figure
Closed single-family new builds	332
Median closed price	$489,055
Median price per finished foot	$214
Active new-build listings	701
Price under $450,000	134 of 332
Price $550,000 and up	118 of 332

Source: Columbus REALTORS MLS, single-family new-construction closings January 1 through September 21, 2026, and active new-build listings, computed by Adam Geuy from the MLS export.

The inventory sits outside the Franklin County core. The most active new-build towns are Plain City (69 listings), Columbus (57), Delaware (55), Powell (39), Grove City (38) and Sunbury (37). D.R. Horton is the single largest new-construction listing office in the market, with New Advantage and others behind it. If you are shopping a buydown, this is the ground you are shopping it on.

How much does a builder rate buydown actually save?

Take the median build at $489,055 with 20 percent down, a $391,244 loan. The table below runs the monthly principal and interest at the market rate against three buydown levels a builder might offer. A permanent buydown of this size typically costs the builder in the neighborhood of six discount points for each one percent of rate, so the deeper the rate cut, the more it costs, and that cost is built into the price you pay.

Your rate	Monthly P&I	Monthly vs 7.40%	Rough buydown cost
7.40% (market)	$2,709	0	0
6.99%	$2,600	$109 less	about $9,600
6.49%	$2,470	$239 less	about $21,400
5.99%	$2,343	$366 less	about $33,100

Source: payments computed at 30 years on the $391,244 loan; buydown cost estimated at six points per one percent of rate, which is a market rule of thumb, not a specific builder's quote.

So the buydown is true savings on the monthly number. At 5.99 percent you pay $2,343 instead of $2,709, which is $366 a month lighter than paying market rate on the full price. That is the number on the model-home board, and it is not a trick. The trick is the comparison the builder does not put on the board.

What if you took the same money as a price cut instead?

The buydown is not free. On the median build, buying the rate to 5.99 percent costs about $33,100, and that is added into your price. So the honest comparison is not buydown versus nothing. It is buydown versus a $33,100 price cut, because that is the same money.

Here are two buyers on the same house, each handed the same $33,100 incentive.

	Buyer A: takes the buydown	Buyer B: takes the price cut
Price	$489,055	$455,956
Loan at 20% down	$391,244	$364,765
Rate	5.99%	7.40%
Monthly P&I	$2,343	$2,526
Balance after 3 years	$377,000	$354,775
Balance after 5 years	about $368,000	about $348,700

Source: same loan math, 30-year amortization, computed by Adam Geuy.

Read the monthly line and Buyer A looks like the winner: $2,343 against $2,526, about $183 a month cheaper. Over three years that is roughly $6,565 kept in pocket. If you are going to hold this exact loan for a decade and rates never fall enough to make refinancing worth it, Buyer A wins and it is not close.

Now read the balance line. Buyer B owes $22,225 less after three years, because Buyer B borrowed less on day one. Buyer B also has a lower tax basis, since Ohio property tax follows the price you paid, and a lower total interest bill for every year the loans run side by side. Buyer B paid about $6,565 more in cash over three years to get there, almost exactly the monthly savings Buyer A banked. The two buyers are nearly even on cash. They are $22,225 apart on what they owe.

So which one actually wins?

It comes down to the one question nobody at the model home asks you: how long will you keep this exact loan?

If rates fall and you refinance, the buydown evaporates and the price cut keeps paying. Say both buyers refinance at the three-year mark to a 5.99 percent market rate. Buyer A refinances $377,000. Buyer B refinances $354,775. Buyer B's new payment is about $133 a month lower than Buyer A's, and it stays lower for the life of the loan, because Buyer B is simply carrying less debt. The buydown bought Buyer A a lower rate for three years. The price cut bought Buyer B a smaller mortgage forever.

With the market rate at a seven-week high, the refinance path is the one most buyers are quietly betting on. If you think rates eventually come down, you are describing Buyer B's win. The only scenario where the buydown clearly wins is the one where rates stay high for years and you never touch the loan.

In my experience walking buyers through this at the sales table, the builder's representative is not wrong that the buydown lowers the payment. They are just answering a different question than the one that decides your money. The payment question has a three-year answer. The price question has a thirty-year one.

What to do with this

Three steps, in order.

1. Make them show you both. A builder who will buy your rate down will usually also discuss price, incentives toward closing costs, or options credits. Ask for the discount version of the same dollars and compare the two on paper, not the payment alone.
2. Answer the hold-time question straight. If you will likely refinance or move inside five years, lean toward price. If you are certain you will keep the loan untouched for seven to ten years, the buydown's monthly savings are real and may win.
3. Price the whole picture. A lower price also lowers your Ohio property tax basis and your total interest. The sub-6 percent buydown and seller-credit breakdown covers the resale version of this same trade, the new construction versus existing price gap shows what you are paying for new in the first place, and the current rate and what moves it is the backdrop to all of it.

The buydown is a good tool. It is just not a free one, and the model-home math is built to show you its best three years, not its full cost.

Run it on your number

The median build is not your build, and your hold time is not the median. Send me the community, the price, your down payment and how long you actually plan to stay, and I will run the buydown against the price cut on your exact numbers, including the refinance break-even, before you sign anything at the design center. If you are weighing new against resale, a current value read on what you would be competing with is the place to start. Book a time at calendly.com/adam-geuy or call me at 937-239-2919.

Adam Geuy, Realtor, Blacktree Realty. License #2020007964. ABR, PSA, SRS.

Housing figures are Columbus REALTORS MLS new-construction closings and active listings, January 1 through September 21, 2026. Mortgage rate is the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey 30-year fixed, 7.40 percent as of October 15, 2026. Payment, balance and buydown figures are computed on the median build with 20 percent down at 30-year amortization; buydown cost is estimated at a market rule of six points per one percent of rate and will vary by builder, lender and loan. These are illustrations, not a quote or financial advice. Verify your own numbers with your lender. Informational only.