Economic Analysis

The Housing Affordability Crisis

A toxic combination of decade-long underbuilding, institutional capital, and acute mortgage rate lock-in.

The Rate Lock-In Effect

Because the US is unique in offering 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, millions of homeowners locked in rates below 3.5% between 2020 and 2022. With current rates near 7%, these homeowners are financially disincentivized from selling, plummeting existing home inventory.

See our Mortgage Lock-in Calculator to quantify this effect.