Realtor.com: 65.6% of Outstanding U.S. Mortgages Carry Rates Below 5% as Pandemic-Era Loans Reach a Record 42.8% Share
Realtor.com released its Q2 2026 Outstanding Mortgage Data report on October 22: 65.6% of outstanding U.S. mortgages carry a rate below 5% and 49.1% sit below 4%, while loans originated since mid-2022, when rates began rising from pandemic lows, account for just 27.8% of the total. Drawing on the Federal Housing Finance Agency's National Mortgage Database, the report concludes that mortgage rate lock-in remains the dominant force in the housing market, and that the release of low-rate loans is proceeding more slowly than many expected.
By rate band, 19.2% of outstanding mortgages are below 3%, 29.9% are between 3% and 4%, 16.5% between 4% and 5%, 12.0% between 5% and 6%, and 22.5% are at 6% or higher — the top band up 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier and 0.3 points from the prior quarter. By origination date, loans made between mid-2019 and mid-2022, when rates were at historic lows, now make up a record 42.8% of all outstanding mortgages, up from 40.8% in the first quarter.
"A mortgage rate below 3% was an extraordinary exception, not a new normal. In data going back to 1971, rates fell below that mark only during the pandemic-era window and homeowners are still making decisions around those unusually low rates today," said Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com. "The rate unlock is real, but it's slow, as low-rate loans gradually age out, are traded up or paid off."
With Freddie Mac's average 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% last week, owners holding sub-5% loans face a sharply higher borrowing cost if they move, which the report identifies as the core reason would-be sellers are staying put and inventory is being released slowly. Life events such as having children, job changes and divorce keep the market in motion, Realtor.com noted, but easing inflation and mortgage rates will be key drivers of seller activity — and the recent surge in rates has pushed expectations of a recovery further out.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国 Colorado Springs 郊区住宅区航拍（资料图）。图：David Shankbone，CC BY-SA 3.0，经维基共享资源
