Quick answer
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) is insurance a lender usually requires on a conventional loan when your down payment is less than 20% of the price. You pay for it, but it protects the lender — not you — if you stop making payments.
Key facts
What it costs
Freddie Mac puts typical PMI at $30 to $70 a month for each $100,000 borrowed, depending mainly on your credit score and down payment. On a $337,500 loan — 10% down on a $375,000 home — that’s about $101 to $236 a month. Most borrowers pay it monthly with the mortgage; some pay a one-time premium at closing, or both.
When it ends
On a loan for your main home, you can ask the servicer in writing to cancel PMI once the balance reaches 80% of the home’s original value, if you’re current and meet the other conditions. It must end automatically at 78%, and in any case at the midpoint of the loan’s schedule. In the example above, at 7.24% with regular payments, you could ask after about 8.6 years, and it would drop off on its own after about 9.8 years. Extra principal payments move both dates up.
FHA loans use a different system — see mortgage insurance premium. The PMI guide covers removal by new appraisal, and your loan-to-value ratio is the number to watch.
Sources
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey — 30-year fixed rate, national weekly average (Week of Oct 29, 2026)
- Freddie Mac My Home — Typical PMI cost, low end; Typical PMI cost, high end (Oct 28, 2026)
- CFPB — Ask your servicer to cancel PMI at this share of original value; PMI ends automatically at this share of original value (Oct 28, 2026)
- CFPB: What is private mortgage insurance?
Last reviewed Figures are checked against the sources above. Read our editorial policy. This page is general information, not financial advice — see the disclaimer.