Report: 6 of 7 People with Mortgages Have Interest Rates Below 6%

A total of 85.7% home owners with mortgages, roughly six out of every seven households, have an interest rate below 6%, according to a data report from Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN). This is down from 90.6% at the start of last year and from the record high of 92.8% in mid-2022.

Redfin noted that 76.1% of homeowners have a rate below 5%, down from a record 85.6% in the first quarter of 2022, while 57.4% have a rate below 4%, down from a record 65.3% in the first quarter of 2022, and 22% have a rate below 3%, down from a record 24.7% in the first quarter of 2022.

Redfin added these percentages continue to reinforce the lock-in effect that is keeping is homeowners from selling their properties, thus exacerbating the shortage of homes for sale.

“I have a dozen or so homeowners who would like to sell but aren’t willing to give up their 3% interest rate for one that’s more than twice as high,” said Blakely Minton, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Philadelphia. “Many of those sellers will list if rates get back down to 5%.”