Скачать или смотреть Why is the Housing Market Frozen?

Why does the U.S. housing market feel broken? Interest rates are high, transaction volume is low, and everyone is worried about affordability.

The vibes aren’t wrong: home sales have collapsed while prices stay stubbornly high. How can a market be terrible for both buyers and sellers at the same time? In this episode of Econ Nerds, we walk through the real economic forces behind the “locked-in” housing market—using Matt’s own (possibly demon-possessed) house as a case study.

Matt’s 2.5% fixed-rate mortgage on a not-so-perfect Southern California home (including a very real attic leaf blower “roof fix”) shows how rising rates make it nearly impossible for millions of homeowners to move. Selling would mean giving up tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in effective wealth. That lock-in effect has taken more than a million homes off the market in 2025 alone.

In this video:
Why today’s housing market is worse than it looks
How mortgage rate lock-in freezes both buyers and sellers
Why high rates reduce demand and reduce supply
How monthly payments jump when interest rates rise from 2.5% to 6.5%
How Denmark’s mortgage system solves this problem
The real economic costs of a frozen housing market
Plus: a terrifying story about the demons in Matt’s shower

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