The one-two punch of swelling mortgage rates and record-low home supply dealt a tough blow to many aspiring home buyers in 2023. Just ask Drew and Lauren Coppel of Herndon, Va. The couple, who purchased their current townhome in October 2019, were looking to buy a larger house toward the beginning of last year but were reluctant to let go of their 30-year mortgage rate of 2.899%, which they scored by refinancing in 2021. When mortgage rates rose above 6.5% midyear, the Coppels decided to put their house search on ice.

“We’re going to wait for rates to come back down,” says Lauren. “We’ll probably wait for them to drop below 6% so that we can get more home for our money.” In the meantime, they’re going to beef up their down payment savings, zero in on what home features matter most to them, and research neighborhoods they want to live in.

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