Mobile Foreigners: Mortgage Lock-In and H-1B Demand

Duha T. Altindag, John M. Nunley and R. Alan Seals

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: The 2022 rise in U.S. mortgage rates increased relocation costs for homeowners with low-rate mortgages. This cost varies across destinations because each draws workers from a different mix of labor markets. We build an in-migration mortgage-payment wedge from HMDA loans and pre-shock IRS migration networks. From 2017 to 2024, higher wedges reduce college-educated homeowner in-migration, leave renters unaffected, and raise H-1B sponsorship requests. The implied offset is 14 H-1B sponsorship requests per 100 deterred college-educated domestic in-migrants. We show that mortgage lock-in operates as a destination-side labor-market shock that shifts part of firms' adjustment toward employer-sponsored immigration.

Date: 2026-05
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