Can Mortgage Portability Help Fix the US Housing Crisis?

What mortgage portability wouldn’t fix

While portability could improve mobility, Reyes is clear about its limitations.

“More activity and more listings are good things. But we also need to look at what it won’t help with. For example, it won’t help with the actual housing supply, and it won’t help first-time homebuyers,” he says.

Mortgage portability does not create new homes. It doesn’t add inventory through construction, zoning changes, or development incentives. It simply helps existing homeowners move more freely within the system.

First-time buyers, in particular, would see little direct benefit, for obvious reasons. Without an existing mortgage to port, they would still face the same affordability challenges they do today.

“It only helps people who are already in the system,” Reyes explains. “It helps people who already have that [low rate] mortgage.”

In other words, portability may shift homes around, but it doesn’t expand the overall housing market pie.

What we can learn from countries that allow mortgage portability

Mortgage portability already exists in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom, but Reyes cautions against assuming those examples translate cleanly to the U.S.

“I still believe that it’s limited because the impact often depends on the rules for the lenders,” he says. “Requalifying, property type, time windows, fees — you can’t just buy a house and then buy another house in a few months.”

In practice, portability abroad tends to come with guardrails:

• Strict timelines for selling and buying
• Limits on how often a mortgage can be ported
• Fees and requalification requirements

“It has worked, but it’s still limited,” Reyes says. “You still have to meet all of the other requirements for you to port your mortgage over.”

Along with these constraints, Reyes also points out that porting is not free in countries where it’s allowed; it involves administrative, legal, and appraisal fees. And if a homeowner moves to a cheaper house, they may have to pay a partial prepayment penalty on the reduced balance.

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What would need to change for this to work in the U.S.

One of the biggest obstacles to mortgage portability in the United States is structural. The U.S. mortgage system is built around selling loans into the secondary market, where investors expect predictability, standardization, and repeat transactions.

Reyes explains that portability would require rethinking how loans are originated, transferred, and insured.

“In the U.S., it’s built around selling loans into the secondary market like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and private lenders,” he says. “If you really want portability to work, you would have to create some rules around assumption, collateral, and the reasons behind transferring the loan.”

Questions would need clear answers. Would a ported mortgage still be insured by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, or VA? Would borrowers need to requalify fully, or partially? How would lenders and investors account for risk if a loan moves properties instead of being paid off?

Reyes also notes that lender incentives and industry jobs matter.

“If banks don’t get to upsell that rate when the market changes, they’re going to want restrictions,” he says. “You would have to involve lenders, investors, and everybody, and come up with a plan that doesn’t cost an entire industry revenue.”

Reyes adds, “There are a lot of people who are involved in generating new loans.”

Risks and unintended consequences to consider

Mortgage portability could introduce new risks if it were implemented without strong guardrails.

Reyes points out that traditional mortgage lending relies on fresh qualification at the time of purchase.

“When you’re qualifying for a new home right now, you have to reapply and make sure that your income is sufficient and your credit is good,” he says. “If you waive all of that, then how do you know the client can still afford the payment?”

There are also questions around collateral and insurance. If a loan is transferred rather than originated anew, lenders would need clarity on how risk is evaluated and who ultimately bears it during a downturn.

Another concern is market impact. Increased mobility could affect home prices in unpredictable ways.

“If more people are moving and there are more houses listed on the market, how is that going to affect prices?” Reyes asks. “You don’t want to create another issue where property values are negatively affected.”

Try our portable mortgage calculator

To see how mortgage portability might affect monthly payments in a real-world scenario, try HomeLight’s portable mortgage calculator below. The tool models what keeping a low-rate loan could look like (hypothetically) if portability were available in the U.S.

Is mortgage portability a partial solution or just one lever?

Mortgage portability could help reduce gridlock for some homeowners, but Reyes is careful not to oversell its impact.

“I’m open to the idea of loan portability,” he says. “But it would have to be implemented cautiously to make sure that you’re not putting risky loans out there.”

He emphasizes that portability alone cannot solve the housing crisis. Supply constraints, affordability challenges for first-time buyers, and regional market differences still require separate solutions.

“At the end of the day, if it helps some current homeowners, then maybe that’s something we can look into,” Reyes says. “But we still need more supply, more new construction, and more houses to ease things overall.”

What U.S. homebuyers can do right now

Even without mortgage portability, homeowners and buyers still have practical options.

If you are considering a move, working with a knowledgeable local real estate agent can help you understand pricing dynamics, equity opportunities, and realistic next steps in your market. HomeLight’s free Agent Match platform can connect you with top-performing agents based on your goals, timeline, and location, helping you make informed decisions with expert guidance.

For homeowners who want flexibility when buying and selling, HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program allows you to unlock the equity in your current home, make a strong, non-contingent offer on your next home, and sell on your timeline. Watch the short video below to see how it works.

While mortgage portability remains hypothetical in the U.S., Buy Before You Sell offers a practical way to move forward without rushing a sale or juggling two mortgages.

Visit HomeLight’s Buyer or Seller resource centers, where you can search for answers to all your real estate questions.

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