Only 1% of homeowners said they would be comfortable buying a home at current mortgage rates of 6% or more. Another 40% said they would need rates to drop below 6% to consider buying, and 8% were undecided.
Among homeowners with mortgages below 3%, 41% said they wouldn’t be interested in buying another home at any rate this year. Even 28% of those paying 5% or more shared the same sentiment. Meanwhile, 37% of all respondents said they would only buy if rates dropped below 5%.
Refinancing interest has also dried up
Just under 1% of homeowners said they would refinance with rates at 6% or more. In contrast, 54% said they wouldn’t refinance under any rate this year, and another 35% said they’d need to see rates below 5% to consider it.
“With so many homeowners having bought or refinanced at sub-5% rates prior to 2022, there isn’t much of an appetite or incentive to refinance at today’s comparatively high rates,” McBride said in the report. “Even many borrowers that bought in the last three years haven’t seen the significant drop in rates they were hoping to see in order to refinance.”
Meanwhile, about 23% of home sellers said they’d need to see mortgage rates below 5% to list their homes, and 14% said they’d only feel comfortable if rates fell below 4%. Just 3% said they’d be comfortable selling with rates at 6% or higher.