interest rate

Rate lock-in is not without risk (and should not be confused with “locking” an interest rate before closing on a mortgage). It takes properties off the market when demand for housing outstrips supply, driving up prices and encouraging brutal competition. Because they don’t have any equity to transfer into down payments, first-time home purchasers are particularly disadvantaged. Is rate lock-in, however, a real thing? How many moves does it obstruct? For more than 40 years, economists have debated the topic.