What to Do If Your Homebuying Plan Got Scrapped This Year

This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

Millennials are in peak nesting mode. We want the outdoor space many apartments lack, or the room to grow that a starter house doesn’t offer. There’s just a not-so-small problem.

(Gestures broadly at everything.)

The median existing home sales price of U.S. homes was $389,500 in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s a 7.7% increase from August 2021. The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages topped 6% as of Sept. 15 this year, according to Freddie Mac. Compare that with an average rate of 2.86% just one year prior — that’s a 110% increase.

It can be hard to compete when an open house feels like a cage match. It’s enough to make anyone retreat to a rental for a while. “We’re seeing that those who were thinking of buying a home just aren’t interested anymore,” says Natalie Slagle, a certified financial planner and founding partner of Rochester, Minnesota-based Fyooz Financial Planning. “People aren’t as willing to make big financial moves when it feels like there’s uncertainty.”

Though you may feel stuck right now, you don’t have to be forever. Here’s what to do in the meantime.

Reevaluate your current situation

In slowing down your house hunt, you’ve given yourself the gift of extra time. You can reassess what’s realistic for you. Over the next year or so, your life may change a...