Nearly 9 in 10 U.S. homeowners have a mortgage rate below 6 percent, according to a new report from the real estate company Redfin.
Some 88.5 percent have a mortgage rate below 6 percent, down from a high of 92.8 percent of homeowners in in the second quarter of 2022, the report found.
More than three-quarters of homeowners — 78.7 percent — have a mortgage rate below 5 percent, while nearly 6 in 10 — 59.4 percent — have a mortgage below 4 percent. Just 22.6 percent have a mortgage rate below 3 percent, according to Redfin.
As the average mortgage rate currently sits at 6.66 percent, Redfin noted that many homeowners are opting to stay put in order to avoid higher rates, resulting in a phenomenon known as the “lock-in effect” that is helping fuel the country’s housing shortage.
“A lot of sellers are worried about finding their next house because even though listings are rising, there’s still a housing shortage. That’s part of the reason so many sellers remain on the sidelines,” David Palmer, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Seattle, said in a statement
h/t Captain KC Jones