Americans aren’t happy with the rising mortgage rates and many say they’re not going to sell their homes because of it.
“The U.S. housing market is in a strange place,” said Jeff Ostrowski, an analyst at Bankrate.
He said Bankrate’s recent survey showed more than half of American homeowners said there’s no mortgage rate right now at which they would be comfortable selling their home this year. This is up from 42% in a similar survey the company conducted last year.
“They were below 3%, now they’re closer to 7% and there just aren’t a whole lot of American homeowners who want to give up that 3% rate and trade it,” Ostrowski said.
More than half of American homeowners also said they would be uncomfortable with purchasing another home no matter what happens with mortgage rates this year, according to the survey. That’s up from 38% last year. Ostrowski said the recent low mortgage rates were because of the pandemic.
“We were in a global crisis,” Ostrowski said. “Everyone thought the economy was going to crash because of lockdowns, because no one could travel or leave their homes, and so really, the mortgage rates are much higher now because the economy has recovered strongly.”
Among those who said they would be open to buying a home this year, two in three, or 66%, of Americans said they would need a mortgage rate lower than 5% to feel comfortable buying. His advice for those thinking about next steps?
“If you’re comfortable in your house, if it suits your needs, then just stay there and don’t worry about it,” he said. “If you’re looking for a house, just sort of wrap your mind around the idea that this is where rates are going to be for the foreseeable future.”
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