Boston-area homebuyers may be facing a worse homebuying environment than the same time last year, but recent declines in mortgage rates have helped improve affordability somewhat according to a new analysis by economists at real estate listings portal Zillow.

The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage jumped from 3.22 percent for the week ending Jan. 6, 2022 to 6.7 percent for the seven days ending Oct. 6, 2022, according to mortgage-buyer Freddie Mac. That sent the maximum home price someone could afford with a $3,000 payment crashing down, from $865,000 to $560,000, Zillow researchers calculated.

But as average rates have fallen from November’s 7.08 percent peak to 6.12 percent, where they sat last week, that figure is now about $620,000.

Put into square-footage terms, Zillow economists calculated that the median size of a Boston home that could be afforded on a $3,000-a-month payment was 1,754 square feet as of Jan. 1, 2023. That was down 486 square feet from the same date last year, but up 163 square feet from October.

“Mortgage rates have a huge impact on the types of homes buyers are able to afford. Rates that doubled over the past year carved an extra bedroom or office space off of homes at the national level, though the sting has lessened in recent weeks,” Anushna Prakash, economic data analyst at Zillow, said in a statement. “Buyers in more affordable hot markets are still getting solid bang for their buck, despite losing a lot of purchasing power.”

Housing market-watchers say early indications suggest that while sellers may still be largely staying off the market, some buyers appear ready to re-engage after sitting out the fall.

The biggest declines in how much space $3,000 will land a buyer were seen in traditionally more staid Midwestern and Northeastern markets like Hartford, Connecticut and Indianapolis, Indiana. Zillow researchers attributed this to the larger footprints seen in these less-expensive markets, giving them further to fall as mortgage rates rose, on top of those markets’ relative health compared to high-cost coastal areas or Sun Belt and Western markets that boomed during the pandemic.