"According to new data from Realtor.com, the share of U.S. homeowners with mortgage rates over 6% is now greater than the share hanging onto those "ultra low" sub-3% rates. In the third quarter of 2025, 21% of outstanding mortgages carried a rate above 6% compared to the 20% of mortgages with rates below 3%. That change signals a "meaningful shift" from the gridlock that's defined the last few years in the U.S. housing market."
""Mortgage rates above 6% now represent a larger share of outstanding loans than the ultra-low rates that defined the pandemic-era housing boom," Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a press release. "This crossover reflects a gradual resetting as some households trade in low-rate mortgages for higher-rate loans or enter the market for the first time, even as rate lock-in continues to limit the pace of inventory recovery.""
Pandemic-era ultra-low mortgage rates produced widespread rate lock-in by giving many homeowners sub-4% loans and little incentive to sell. That reduction in listings tightened inventory and kept many potential buyers, especially first-time purchasers, priced out amid higher home prices and interest rates. The market has begun to reset: in the third quarter of 2025, 21% of outstanding mortgages carried rates above 6% while 20% carried rates below 3%. The crossover indicates some households are trading low-rate mortgages for higher-rate loans or entering the market, though rate lock-in still limits the pace of inventory recovery.
Read at Fast Company
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