A $100,000 mortgage can be harder to get than a much bigger one. Here’s why

Getting your foot in the door of one of the lowest-priced homes on the market has become increasingly challenging—and rising prices are only partly to blame. Financing options for a mortgage with a principal balance of $100,000 or less are increasingly harder to come by or carry much higher rates, according to a new report from Realtor.com. While the share of homes that have sold for $150,000 or less has shrunk considerably—from 36.7% in 2013 to 8.8% in 2026—the share of small mortgage origin...