They Want to Split Up. The Housing Market Won’t Let Them.

Divorced and separated couples are facing their worst nightmare: sharing a house with the person they want to get away from.

Behind the uneasy arrangement is the housing market. Mortgage rates are over 7% and average home prices have hit record highs. This means more couples can’t afford to leave their home with its less than 3% mortgage interest rates and set up two different households.

Renting isn’t always an option either given that rents have risen more than 9% over the last two years.

Estranged couples stuck together are trying to create boundaries. Husband on the second floor. Wife on the first. They assign his and her cupboards in the kitchen, schedule laundry time and text whereabouts as needed. One woman locks her bedroom door and keeps her supply of batteries and toilet paper in her closet.

Read the entire article here: https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/they-want-to-split-up-the-housing-market-wont-let-them-bafd67f0?mod=hp_featst_pos4