Today’s homebuyers are exceptionally sensitive to mortgage rates with house prices so high — and they’ve found their tipping point.
The majority of potential homebuyers, 71%, say they will not accept a 30-year fixed mortgage rate over 5.5%, according to a survey done in March by John Burns Research and Consulting. The current rate, however, is around 6.4%.
If so many potential buyers, however, are saying they won’t buy unless they get a rate below 5.5%, they may be sitting on the sidelines for a while. Mortgage rates have been over 6% for nearly a year and are not expected to move much lower this year.
An April survey from U.S. News and World Report seems to corroborate these findings: It found that 66% of Americans who plan to buy a home this year said they are waiting until rates fall.
The U.S. News survey also found that 25% of homebuyers who are holding out for lower rates are waiting until they drop below 5%. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they’ve had to reduce their housing budgets due to the current level of mortgage rates.