Homeowners in these cities feel 'trapped' in their mortgage: report
(NEXSTAR) – If we've learned anything about the real estate market these past few years, it's that things change fast.
During the peak of the pandemic, low interest rates and the desire for more space led to a home buying and selling frenzy. At the end of 2021, home prices were 18.5% higher than they had been just a year before, according to CoreLogic.
Now, in places where the real estate market was recently red hot, fewer homes are being listed than just two years ago. Those same homes now have bigger price tags and are sitting on the market longer.
Those factors, combined with high interest rates, have some homeowners feeling "trapped," according to new data analysis by MoneyGeek. The personal finance site looked at 312 metro areas around the country to assess where average mortgage spending has gone up while housing supply has gone down.
For some homeowners, those economic trends mean it's too costly to move homes right now, even if they want to.
Homeowners in the South were most likely to be feeling trapped, MoneyGeek found. In two Georgia cities, Gainesville and Atlanta, homeowners looking to buy a home would end up paying more than $10,000 a year on a new mortgage. Plus, with fewer homes on the market there's more competition for a smaller supply.
In the Northeast, supply issues are especially bad. MoneyGeek reports a 20% drop in new listings in just two years.
Meanwhile, in pricy West Coast locales, average monthly mortgages now top $5,000.
| Rank | Metro area | % change in mortgage (2021 to 2023) | Additional mortgage spending (2021 to 2023) | Avg. monthly mortgage | % change in home value (2021 to 2023) | % change in new listings | % change in days on market |
| 1 | Gainesville, GA | 83.7% | $10,720 | $1,960 | 24.8% | -27.8% | 29.7% |
| 2 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | 82.4% | $10,953 | $2,020 | 23.9% | -25.6% | 27.2% |
| 3 | Ocean City, NJ | 77.9% | $17,515 | $3,334 | 20.8% | -31.7% | 9.3% |
| 4 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 71.2% | $23,447 | $4,698 | 16.3% | -29.6% | 18.7% |
| 5 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 73.1% | $15,363 | $3,032 | 17.5% | -24.9% | 25.6% |
| 6 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | 69.6% | $30,734 | $6,244 | 15.1% | -31.1% | 17.7% |
| 7 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 82.2% | $10,931 | $2,019 | 23.7% | -23.9% | 12.9% |
| 8 | The Villages, FL | 86.7% | $12,370 | $2,219 | 26.8% | -26.1% | 0.8% |
| 9 | Flagstaff, AZ | 79.3% | $16,901 | $3,184 | 21.8% | -16.2% | 34.2% |
| 10 | Bend, OR | 68.1% | $17,535 | $3,608 | 14.1% | -24.4% | 29.3% |
| 11 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 67.0% | $39,038 | $8,110 | 13.4% | -34.6% | 15.9% |
| 12 | Naples-Marco Island, FL | 104.5% | $19,515 | $3,182 | 38.9% | -15.8% | 10.1% |
| 13 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | 72.6% | $11,332 | $2,246 | 17.2% | -20.1% | 43.4% |
| 14 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (Tie) | 66.7% | $23,466 | $4,885 | 13.2% | -27.8% | 15.7% |
| 14 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ (Tie) | 74.3% | $12,543 | $2,452 | 18.4% | -17.1% | 53.3% |
| 16 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 80.6% | $25,748 | $4,806 | 22.7% | -16.1% | 10.2% |
| 17 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 65.6% | $18,399 | $3,872 | 12.4% | -27.1% | 25.5% |
| 18 | Athens-Clarke County, GA | 76.1% | $8,872 | $1,711 | 19.6% | -23.3% | 17.2% |
| 19 | Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI | 88.4% | $29,980 | $5,326 | 27.9% | -28.2% | -8.8% |
| 20 | North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL | 97.4% | $14,888 | $2,515 | 34.0% | -12.8% | 13.4% |
Nationwide more homeowners are feeling "trapped" in their mortgages, but the conditions are more favorable in West Virginia, Illinois and Louisiana.
According to MoneyGeek's analysis, residents of Wheeling, West Virginia; Parkersburg, West Virginia; Alexandria, Louisiana; Danville, Illinois; and Decatur, Illinois, were least likely to feel trapped.