When Sandy Lachhman and Shaun Parmassar started house-hunting on Long Island, N.Y., in early 2022, buying a home felt like a race against time.
Mortgage rates were ticking up from record lows, and listings seemed to disappear quickly. Each had a new job — Lachhman as a hospital operations manager, and Parmassar in cybersecurity — and they were eager to lock in a deal while they still could.
After spending almost every weekend for three months looking at houses, the couple secured a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a pool for around $660,000, about $30,000 over asking price, at a 4% interest rate.
“The way the housing market was during the pandemic, it gave millennials such as myself a very good opportunity to get into the housing market,” Lachhman said. “It would have been a much more difficult process now.”
The couple are still in the house and doing well on paper. Their monthly payment of about $5,000 hasn’t budged, leaving room for savings and entertainment. But life looks different. Now, the couple have a Labrador retriever, an 18-month-old and a baby on the way, and the house feels a lot smaller than it used to.
It’s a situation they share with many other Americans who bought houses during the pandemic: financially grounded, yet physically stuck and unsure how to move forward.
When the world shut down and mortgage rates tumbled, buying a home felt like the ultimate act of security. Americans rushed to buy, some pooling resources with siblings, partners or friends to make it possible. During the pandemic, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell below 3% for the first time, and hit a record low of 2.65% in early 2021, according to Freddie Mac. For many, that moment felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Those who secured a rate below 3% found themselves “a rarity and something we might not see again for a very long time,” said Stephanie Williams, a senior wealth adviser at investment firm AlphaCore Wealth Advisory. And according to a 2023 Realtor.com and HarrisX survey, about 82% of homeowners said they felt “locked in” by their low mortgage rate, and more than half were waiting for conditions to improve before selling.
A few years later, some of those pandemic buyers are caught between stability and a desire for change.
“Many people bought their homes in the hopes it was an initial steppingstone on the path to a more ideal property, yet with higher interest rates and more limited inventory, that ‘starter home’ has become a long-term one,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma. “It can leave people feeling trapped.”
Nearly 1 in 4 homeowners regrets the purchase, according to a recent survey by Intuit Credit Karma. The figure jumps to 38% of millennials, who said they underestimated the costs of ownership; and 40% of millennials reported that they have postponed other life goals because of housing costs. Add rising costs and life changes — new partners, children, breakups — and that stability can start to feel more like confinement.
In today’s high-rate, high-price market, many homeowners can’t justify trading their 3% mortgage for one that’s twice as expensive, said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com. Yet many homeowners who want a change aren’t sure whether to rent out their home, sell it or stay put.
With President Donald Trump’s recent proposal of a 50-year mortgage as a way to make homebuying more affordable, some feel pressure to keep their low-interest, 30-year mortgages.
Stuck in a starter home
For Amber McDorman and her husband, buying a home in suburban Phoenix during the pandemic was a mix of luck and timing. They had started looking the year before, but listings came and went in the blink of an eye: One week they were outbid; the next, prices jumped beyond their budget.
Then mortgage rates began dipping below 3%, and things started looking up. With a 2.5% interest rate, the McDormans secured a three-bedroom home for around $260,000 in 2020. Five years later, they’re still paying $1,300 a month, and their equity has soared by 65%.
Back then, the home felt perfect for two people with one child. But they have added a second child to their family, and both work primarily from home, often sharing the same office. The couple would love more space but can’t bring themselves to trade their mortgage for today’s higher rates and home prices. Adding an extension for another bedroom or office could cost up to $50,000, McDorman said.
“I honestly feel like we’re kind of the lucky ones,” said McDorman, a social worker in her late 30s. “But we didn’t intend for this to be our forever home.”
Moving — at a cost
Lissette Debord and her husband decided to sell the starter home they bought during the pandemic instead of staying in a place they had outgrown. They bought the house in 2020 in Sussex County, N.J., when they were both 21, during Debord’s last semester of college, using money they saved by having a virtual wedding on Zoom to secure a 2.7% interest rate. The couple were able to afford the $250,000 two-bedroom home through a combination of personal savings, bank loans and first-time homebuyer benefits.
The pandemic made them rethink their priorities.
“Like, are we going to invest in one day, or are we going to invest in something that’s going to build our future?” said Debord, who is now 26 and works as an analyst at an executive recruiting firm.
Last year, with their first child, they moved into a larger home in Jefferson County, N.J., gaining an extra bedroom and more space. The trade-off was steep: Their new mortgage is now more than double the old one and has a 6.6% interest rate.
Now, with another baby on the way, the higher payments have reshaped their lives. Debord and her family have had to cut back on outings and vacations, and must budget more carefully while managing child care and other household costs.
“We took a chance,” Debord said. “It is what it is now.”
Same home, starting over
Ja’nise Johnson, 41, bought a four-bedroom home in Tampa, Fla., in 2019, securing an interest rate of around 3%. She had a job in insurance for seven years, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, she was furloughed, making it hard for her to keep up mortgage payments while raising three boys as a single mother.
Within the first year, she defaulted on her mortgage. She leaned heavily on friends and family members and took side gigs like DoorDash to make ends meet. But she didn’t want to give up the home, wanting to maintain stability for her three children.
Last year, because she was behind on payments, she had to refinance her mortgage for a higher rate of 5.3%. That increased her monthly payments to $2,800 from $1,700, limiting her financial flexibility and ability to move.
Yet Johnson’s biggest regret isn’t buying the home or staying in it when she couldn’t afford the costs. It is not having bought a home sooner.
“I probably would have owned my home by this time,” said Johnson, who now works as a project manager for a financial services company. “Now I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”