Syracuse, N.Y. — More homes in Onondaga County were mortgage-free in 2021 and 2022 than at any time in Census Bureau records dating back over a decade.
It’s evidence of a trend housing experts have said is contributing to a challenging market for homebuyers: More people are staying in their homes longer, driven at least in part by low interest rates they locked in years ago.
Some of those people are ultimately able to pay off their mortgages, instead of moving and taking on a new loan.
The number of homes in the county without a mortgage climbed to more than 50,000 in 2021, the highest total in census records that date back to 2010. The total dropped slightly to just over 49,500 in 2021, but that was still at least 4,000 homes higher than every other year in the census data.
You can see details in the table below. If you can’t see the table, click here to open it in a new web browser.
More than 39% of all homes in the county were mortgage-free in 2021, an all-time high in census records and over 6 percentage points higher than the low in 2011.
The data covers the mortgage status of all housing units in the county. That includes single-family homes, but also other dwellings like apartments, condos and mobile homes, according to the Census Bureau. College dorms are not a part of the count.
The numbers were similar in New York state as a whole, according to the Census Bureau. The share of homes without a mortgage rose to a high of 41.8% statewide in 2021. The total was just slightly lower at 41.7% in 2022.
The trend is present nationwide as well, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Experts have said previously that the current residential real estate market in Central New York is one of the most difficult for buyers in the region’s history.
A big reason is the current lack of homes for sale. That’s leading to intense competition among buyers, bidding wars, waived inspections and escalating prices.
Some of the scarcity stems from the fact that for many homeowners, selling now would mean giving up a favorable mortgage interest rate for a much higher one. Rates were at historically low levels for years following the housing market crash in 2008, but have recently been on the rise.
The Federal Reserve began an extended campaign of rate increases in 2022 in an effort to fight inflation. Mortgage interest rates rose to levels not seen in decades.
Experts have also said a major part of the solution to the problem locally is more construction of new housing, but that takes time. It’s possible the market could remain similar to its current state for years.
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Read More:Number of homes without a mortgage in Onondaga County climbs to all-time high
2024-01-25 13:00:00