--- title: 1 in 5 Homeowners Are Now Paying Mortgage Rates of 6% or Higher description: One in five U.S. homeowners now have mortgage rates above 6%, the highest share in a decade, Redfin reports. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Mortgages - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Mortgages - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-10-01T15:07:26.000Z' modified: '2025-10-01T15:07:26.000Z' section: Mortgages tags: - News word_count: 627 canonical: https://money.com/us-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We may earn a fee if you click on the links below. Compensation does not determine ranking. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo-illustration of a couple being trapped by a house](https://img.money.com/2025/09/News-Americans-Mortgage-5-Percent.jpg) The share of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage rate of at least 6% is now at the highest level in a decade. About 1 in 5 homeowners had loans with interest rates of 6% or higher between the months of April and June, according to a new analysis by [Redfin](https://www.redfin.com/news/rate-lock-q2-2025/). That’s a stark increase from the low rates of the pandemic era, when as few as 7.3% of homeowners in 2022 had mortgage rates that high. For better or worse: “Americans are slowly growing accustomed to elevated mortgage rates,” the report says. Money’s daily survey shows [mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/) for a 30-year fixed-rate loan are currently 6.53%. Rates have been stuck above 6% since late 2022, triggering a so-called “lock-in effect,” where homeowners with low rates largely avoided moving so they could keep their rate. Redfin’s report suggests the lock-in effect could be starting to thaw — and that’s largely good news for homebuyers. “More homeowners are deciding it’s worth moving even if it means giving up a lower mortgage rate,” Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economic research, says in the report. “As a result, more homes are hitting the market than we’ve seen in years, giving buyers a wider range of choices.” While prolonged and elevated mortgage rates are a drag on the housing market, more inventory can help lower home prices and improve affordability. At the end of August, the typical sales price for a home was $366,806 after edging down three consecutive months, according to Zillow data. Estimated monthly mortgage payments were also down to $1,855, the lowest point this year. Yet it’s not time to celebrate, as many homeowners are staying put — and many potential buyers are still priced out. “Fewer borrowers are locked in, but the effect is fairly marginal,” Laurie Goodman, founder of Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, tells Money. “Remember, there are a lot of borrowers out there with very low rates.” For instance, as of July, 83% of homeowners have a rate of 6% or below, according to mortgage data that Urban shared with Money. And nearly a quarter of homeowners still have rates of 3% or below. Goodman says that until rates dip into the 5.8% range, she expects mortgage activity to “remain muted.” ## When will mortgage rates fall? According to a 2024 [Realtor.com report](https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/this-is-the-magic-mortgage-rate-to-rev-the-housing-market-back-up/), approximately one-third of potential homebuyers are waiting for rates to drop below 5%. That may be a long time off. While the Federal Reserve did deliver its first of potentially several [interest rate cuts](https://money.com/fed-rate-cut-impact-september-2025/) earlier this month, the reduction of the federal funds rate doesn’t directly move the needle on mortgage rates. (Mortgage rates actually increased following the Fed interest rate cut.) Instead, mortgage rates largely track the 10-year Treasury bond yield, which is the interest rate the government pays to borrow money for a decade. This metric also serves as a benchmark for how investors are feeling about inflation and economic growth. Because inflation is remaining stubborn, housing market economists are expecting mortgage rates to stay above 6% for the rest of 2025. If inflation picks up for September, rates may even rise before coming back down. According to Redfin, mortgage rates are expected to stay between 6% and 7% for the next 12 months. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae projects mortgage rates won’t tick below 6% until the [end of 2026](https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom/fannie-mae-news/mortgage-rates-expected-move-below-6-percent-end-2026). For now, mortgage rates are at least down from their 2025 high of 7%, notched in January. “​​Every drop in rates helps restore affordability,” Goodman says, “particularly combined with near-zero home price appreciation in many parts of the country.” ## Buy your home with more convenience and less hassle ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38130/medium_29a2a129-cf1d-4fcb-a92d-901b0c9bf0f6.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/9ac414215f96?bidid=4115854684&pmeta=p129-c488-u36862&ptid=670859530&ptoken=440739309b5393c0c9f2427ce43da699) ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/39711/medium_85521de9-b6c5-4b35-a129-169c217d0287.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/d18b57193a55?bidid=4115854690&pmeta=p129-c488-u36862&ptid=670859530&ptoken=f283f00521a473439d311d66ab1018c0) ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/34120/medium_4ba40e39-00f6-4f3e-9a12-67943aa4166f.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/e7348a35d032?bidid=4115854687&pmeta=p129-c488-u36862&ptid=670859530&ptoken=e12752a8a30b49f886983e69b151aee3) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/26681/medium_57f09f10-efb8-487d-a73e-5f7d605144eb.png) Start your real estate investment journey with Rocket Mortgage (NMLS #3030) [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/b110370347e7?ap_referrer=%2Fus-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/us-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Mortgages", "item": "https://money.com/mortgages/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mortgage Rates", "item": "https://money.com/mortgage-rates/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "1 in 5 Homeowners Are Now Paying Mortgage Rates of 6% or Higher" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/us-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/us-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade/", "name": "1 in 5 Homeowners Are Now Paying Mortgage Rates of 6% or Higher", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-10-01T15:07:26.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/us-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/us-homeowners-6-percent-mortgage-rates-highest-decade/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-10-01T15:07:26.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "1 in 5 Homeowners Are Now Paying Mortgage Rates of 6% or Higher", "articleSection": "Mortgages", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/09/News-Americans-Mortgage-5-Percent.jpg", "width": 2800, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Americans-Mortgage-5-Percent" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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