# Real estate company, Lightstone has revealed homeowners are grappling with the impact of rising interest rates as distressed house sales soar. The number of property owners selling within two-years of purchase has surged from two-percent in May of the previous year to 3.7-percent. BusinessTech suggests buyers who capitalised on low-interest rates during Covid-19 are now facing challenges in meeting mortgage repayments as interest rates return to normal levels. The volume of residential purchases by individuals plummets by 50-percent, and the number of buyers bonding their properties drops from 60 to 40-percent.