- A July 2022 survey of 1,001 homebuyers found 72% of them experienced regret.
- Buyer's remorse could be even more common now for those who bought when prices and rates were high.
In December, a first-time homebuyer paid $585,000 — $35,000 over asking — for a three-bedroom house in Richmond, Virginia, with a mortgage interest rate of 6.99%.
The 34-year-old buyer, who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, hasn't even moved in yet, and already wishes she could take back the decision.
"I did the dumbest thing possible in buying the peak of the market and the peak of interest rates," she told Insider. "It just doesn't make any sense."
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After record lows in 2021, interest rates on a 30-year mortgage reached as high as 7.08% in December 2022, according to Freddie Mac. Rates have since dipped and are currently around 6.33%, and sellers are offering concessions like paying for repairs and buying down buyers' mortgage rates.
But the current rates still mean the typical buyer of a $500,000 house with 20% down is paying almost $700 more a month than last year at this time, according to financial services website Bankrate's mortgage calculator.
The Richmond buyer with the 6.99% rate is feeling the pain.
"Honestly at this point, I hate the house," she said. "I have so much resentment. I haven't even moved in, and I cannot wait to sell this stupid house."
Seventy-two percent of homebuyers experience regret, according to a July 2022 survey of 1,001 homebuyers done by Anytime Estimate, a website for mortgage and home-buying advice. The 722 buyers with regrets said the most common reason was overspending, while the second-most-common reason was buying too quickly.
The Richmond buyer said she had been paying $2,500/month for a home in Northern Virginia when her landlord said he would raise her rent by $500. She figured she could find a home with a mortgage payment comparable to her rent, but such a property did not materialize in her area within her timeframe.
Her monthly payment now totals $3,900.
"I thought that I was going to be one of those millennial perma-renters. Ultimately, I thought if I could get a house and pay the same amount that I would in rent, then that seems like a bet for me," she said. "I'm super remorseful and super angry with myself."