Strike up a conversation about real estate in the Mile High City—or any town, really—and you’re bound to stumble your way into some version of this classic question: What’s going on with interest rates? The answer, generally, is that they’re low, and have been for a while. Which, of course, is good news for prospective homebuyers and homeowners who haven’t recently refinanced. In this month’s 5280—in which we examine Denver’s hottest ‘hoods and the city’s newly minted seller’s market—Charles Roberts, co-owner of Denver’s Your Castle Real Estate, offers this helpful rule of thumb regarding interest rates.

The good news, Roberts says, is that interest rates are still extremely low, meaning you could sell at $250,000 and buy at $350,000 and wind up with a similar monthly mortgage payment. A good rule of thumb is that a one percent reduction in iterest rate provides about $40,000 worth of additional purchasing power.

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