A “For Sale” sign in front of a home in Hercules, California, US, on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
More than half of homeowners in the U.S. say they wouldn’t be comfortable selling their home this year, no matter how low the mortgage rates go, according to a new survey from Bankrate.
A similar number of homeowners also said they wouldn’t be comfortable purchasing another home, even if mortgage rates go down.
Last year, sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. They’ve remained sluggish so far this year, as many prospective homebuyers have been discouraged by elevated mortgage rates and home prices that have continued to climb, albeit more slowly.
Mortgage rates on the rise again
By the numbers:
For those who say they’d be open to buying a home this year, 66% say they’d need a mortgage rate lower than 5%, Bankrate found. The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage edged up from 6.67% to 6.72% last week, far above that 5% threshold, though lower than the 6.89% rate average a year ago. Only 8% of those surveyed said they’d be comfortable buying a home with a mortgage rate higher than 5%.
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Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose. The average rate increased to 5.86% from 5.80% last week. A year ago, it was 6.17%, Freddie Mac said.
Only 3% of homeowners surveyed say they would be comfortable selling a home this year at a mortgage rate of 6% or higher. Less than 1% of homeowners say they would be comfortable refinancing their home loan this year with mortgage rates at 6% or higher.
What they’re saying:
“The spring 2025 homebuying season turned out to be historically slow, and these findings offer some insight,” Bankrate housing market analyst Jeff Ostrowski said in a news release. “Americans just aren’t ready to let go of those fond memories of 3% mortgage rates.”
Homeowners who have locked in lower mortgage rates are also less likely to show interest in buying another home, the survey found.
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“It’s always hard to forget the past, especially when the past includes a memory as dramatic as all-time-low mortgage rates,” Ostrowski added. “Most Americans want low mortgage rates to come back. But keep in mind, mortgage rates plunge because something really bad is going on in the economy. Today’s healthy economy makes it unlikely that mortgage rates will fall to anywhere near their pandemic lows.”
Why you should care:
High mortgage rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers and reduce their purchasing power. That’s helped keep the U.S. housing market in a sales slump that dates back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic.
The Source: This report includes information from Bankrate and The Associated Press.
