Americans who bought homes since 2022 now collectively pay an estimated $65 billion annually in avoidable mortgage costs. That figure, published in new Bankrate research based on 3.2 million mortgage originations tracked in federal housing data and highlighted on the front page of the Wall Street Journal online, represents money homebuyers are losing for one simple reason: they don’t shop around for the best mortgage rate.

According to the study, for the typical borrower, failure to comparison shop compounds to more than $78,000 over the life of the loan. That’s a down payment on another house.