Why the 'lock-in' phenomenon is gripping American homeowners
More than half of U.S. homeowners said they would be uncomfortable selling their home this year no matter what the mortgage rate is, an increase of 12 percentage points from last year's survey, according to Bankrate.
Homeowners with low, fixed-rate mortgages may be reluctant to sell their homes because they would have to give up their low interest rates. This is known as the "lock-in" phenomenon, according to the report.
'Mortgage rates haven't been below 6% in nearly three years, so buyers and sellers alike have reluctantly adjusted to high rates," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.
Current homeowners aren't looking to buy. Why not?
Nearly 40% of homeowners say mortgage rates would need to drop below 6% for them to be comfortable buying a home this year, the survey found.
'While many would-be buyers are holding out for lower mortgage rates, what constitutes 'lower' has evolved. Many that were pining for a return to 3% or 4% rates would probably jump for joy if rates fell into the fives," McBride said in a statement.
'With so many homeowners having bought or refinanced at sub 5-percent rates prior to 2022, there isn't much of an appetite or incentive to refinance at today's comparatively high rates,' McBride added.
The bank of mom and dad: Parents are helping their adult children become homeowners
What is the current mortgage rate?
In the week ending July 17, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.75%, Freddie Mac announced. That's close to the fixed-mortgage rate from a year prior. Those figures don't include fees or points, and rates in some parts of the country may be higher or lower than the national average.
CONTRIBUTING Rachel Barber, Andrea Riquier, USA TODAY
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'Here in Hawaii, because we're so isolated, everything comes on a ship or a plane,' he said. 'We're especially vulnerable to prices rising and disruptions in the supply chain. There's definitely some anxiety there.' ___ The poll of 1,130 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted June 3-11, 2025, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.
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Trump's favorability has fallen among AAPI adults since last year, AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll finds
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AAPI independents' unfavorable view of Trump is higher than his unfavorable rating among independent adults overall, which was 52% in a June AP-NORC poll , having nudged slightly higher from 44% in December . Economic concerns could be playing a central role. About 8 in 10 AAPI adults expect Trump's tariff policies will increase the cost of consumer goods, the poll found, while only about 4 in 10 think those policies will boost domestic manufacturing and just 2 in 10 anticipate more U.S. jobs as a result. 'To me, it seems like a lot of not-really-well-thought-out things that are happening,' said Michael Ida, a 56-year-old independent in Hawaii who teaches high school advanced-placement calculus. 'In the process, there's a lot of collateral damage and fallout that's hurting a lot of people.' Ida was referring specifically to government spending cuts, including for education. AAPI adults represent a small segment of the U.S. population, making up about 7% of the nation's residents in 2023, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data. Likewise, they are hardly a pro-Trump voting bloc generally. In last year's election, English-speaking Asian U.S. voters shifted slightly toward Trump, but with only about a third supporting him, up from 29% in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. The new poll also suggests that they are especially likely to be worried about the economy's trajectory, and remain anxious about high costs. About two-thirds of AAPI adults, 65%, say they are 'extremely' or 'very' concerned about the possibility of the U.S. economy going into a recession, higher than the 53% of the Americans generally who said the same in an April AP-NORC survey . 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Inflation rose in June to its highest level since February as Trump's tariffs pushed up the cost of household goods, from groceries to appliances. Consumer prices rose 2.7% in June from a year earlier, the Labor Department said last week, up from an annual increase of 2.4% in May. On a monthly basis, prices climbed 0.3% from May to June, after rising just 0.1% the previous month. Like Hafiz, Ida, the teacher in Hawaii, did not vote for Trump last year. Instead, both voted for Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver. Hafiz's decision was in opposition to the two major U.S. parties' support for Israel in its war in Gaza. Ida said the two major parties had become 'too extreme.' Ida is among the roughly two-thirds of AAPI adults who say they are at least 'very concerned' about the cost of groceries. He's noticed fear of higher prices in his Pacific island state, and even more within the ethnic businesses, in light of Hawaii's reliance on shipped goods. 'Here in Hawaii, because we're so isolated, everything comes on a ship or a plane,' he said. 'We're especially vulnerable to prices rising and disruptions in the supply chain. There's definitely some anxiety there.' ___ The poll of 1,130 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted June 3-11, 2025, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese and Korean. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . 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