The mortgage on a $500,000 house in Arizona costs about $3,127 a month with 20% down and about $3,675 with 10% down at today's rates. Those numbers include principal, interest, property tax, homeowners insurance, and mortgage insurance where it applies. They use Bankrate's national average of 7.26% on a 30 year fixed from November 4, 2026. A $500,000 price is not a random pick either. It sits just above the Metro Phoenix median, which makes it the house a lot of buyers in Phoenix, Chandler, and the East Valley are actually touring this fall.

The Payment at Every Down Payment

Your down payment changes the monthly number more than anything except the rate. Here is the same $500,000 house run four ways, all at 7.26% on a 30 year fixed.

Every row adds about $213 a month for property tax and $183 for homeowners insurance. The FHA loan amount includes the 1.75% upfront premium, which most buyers roll into the loan. Mortgage insurance is estimated at 0.55% of the loan a year. Private mortgage insurance on a conventional loan can run lower than that with strong credit, or higher with a 680 score, so treat that column as a middle estimate. Our breakdown of what PMI costs in Arizona shows the range by credit score.

The jump from 20% down to 10% down costs about $548 a month. Half of that is mortgage insurance you can eventually remove.

How Much Income You Need

Plan on roughly $125,000 a year with 20% down and about $147,000 with 10% down if you want the housing payment near 30% of your gross income. That is a comfort number, not the lender's limit.

Lenders look at your total debt to income ratio, which is every monthly debt payment plus the new house payment, divided by gross monthly income. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's explainer on debt to income walks through the math. Conventional loans can approve up to about 50% with strong compensating factors, and FHA can go higher in some files. So a household earning $110,000 can often get approved on this house. Whether that household should is a different conversation.

The real squeeze is the car payment and the student loan. A $650 truck payment and a $300 student loan take $950 of room that would otherwise carry about $140,000 of mortgage. I see more approvals fall apart on day three over a car loan than over income. Our guide on how much house you can afford in Arizona runs that math in more detail.

The Cash You Need at Closing

The down payment is only part of it. Closing costs and prepaid items in Maricopa County usually add 2% to 3% of the price, so about $10,000 to $15,000 on a $500,000 home.

That covers lender fees, title insurance, escrow fees, the appraisal, the first year of homeowners insurance, and an initial deposit into your escrow account for taxes. Arizona collects property taxes in arrears, in two halves due October 1 and March 1, so the timing of your closing changes how much tax money you prepay. A buyer closing in late November with 10% down should plan on about $60,000 to $65,000 total. We list each line in our post on how much cash you need to buy a house in Arizona.

Seller credits can shrink that number. With homes in Metro Phoenix sitting longer, sellers are paying buyer closing costs more often than they did a year ago, and that money reduces cash to close dollar for dollar.

Use the calculator below to test your own price, down payment, and rate. It adds mortgage insurance automatically under 20% down. The numbers are estimates, not a quote.

Run Your Own Numbers

What $500,000 Buys Across the Valley

In Metro Phoenix, $500,000 is a median house, not a starter home and not a luxury one. AZ Big Media's October report put the metro median sale price at $448,000, down 1.5%, with active listings up 6.8% from a year ago and the Cromford Market Index at 70.1, which is firmly a buyer's market.

The city level numbers matter more than the metro one. That same report put the Phoenix median at $470,000 and the Chandler median at $513,000, while Gilbert came in at $605,000 and Scottsdale at $1.1 million. So $500,000 gets a typical single family home in Phoenix or Chandler, a smaller or older home in Gilbert, and usually a condo or townhome in Scottsdale. Homes.com's Phoenix housing market report showed 69 days on market and a 95% sale to list ratio in August, which tells you there is room to negotiate. You can browse what is listed right now at Arizona Luxury Property Search.

Three Ways to Lower the Payment

The fastest lever is the rate, and the cheapest way to buy it down right now is often the seller's money.

Ask for a seller paid buydown. On a $450,000 loan, each quarter point of rate is worth roughly $75 a month. A seller credit spent on discount points often lowers your payment more than the same dollars taken off the price. This is common in today's Valley market, and your agent should ask for it on any home that has sat 60 days.

Pick the right loan for your credit. FHA and conventional price mortgage insurance very differently. With a 760 score, conventional with 10% down usually wins. With a 660 score, FHA often does. The HUD homebuying loans page covers FHA basics, and our comparison of FHA vs conventional in Arizona runs the numbers. Because we are a broker, we can price the loan programs we shop across several lenders at once.

Plan to drop mortgage insurance. On a conventional loan, PMI can come off once you reach 20% equity, and it must end at 22% based on the original value under federal law. The CFPB explains when you can remove PMI. FHA premiums usually stay for the life of the loan with under 10% down, which is the main reason buyers refinance out of FHA later.

Rates could move either way before you close. We covered what the December Fed meeting means for Arizona mortgage rates this week. On a $450,000 loan, the difference between 7.0% and 7.5% is about $152 a month, so lock when the payment works rather than chasing a forecast. You can see how a file moves from preapproval to keys on our process page, or learn more about our team at Pillar Mortgage Group.

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