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Mortgage rates – both their high levels and their wild swings – are making life difficult for both buyers and sellers, economists from Zillow say, as high rates keep sellers from listing and push lower-income buyers out of the market.

“We know there are a lot of motivated buyers looking for homes. When we see mortgage rates fall, sales pick up,” Zillow chief economist Skylar Olsen said in a statement. “But buyers are disappointed in their options. Homeowners aren’t giving up their current house and low monthly payments to join a tight, expensive market. Meanwhile, volatility in the economy makes planning extremely difficult.”

At a national level, Zillow said, the flow of new listings in February is at a record low for this time of year, nearly a third lower than before the pandemic and 22 percent lower than last year. Mortgage rates are likely driving the decline – those who bought or refinanced in 2020 or 2021, when rates were well below 3.5 percent, are unwilling to trade in their current mortgage for a new one with double the interest, Olsen said.

In Greater Hartford, the monthly mortgage payment on the median home was up 49.3 percent to $1,571, Zillow calculated.

February home sales data from The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record, is not yet available. However, January data showed the median single-family sale price rose only 2 percent year-over-year last month, while the number of home sales fell 35 percent on the same basis. According to Smart MLS, the state’s multiple listings service, reported a 10 percent year-over-year drop in new listings statewide in January, to1,889, along with an 18 percent slide in total numbers of single-family homes on the market, to 4,184.