Realtor.com said in a report this week that it expects a steadier, though not robust, U.S. housing market in 2026.
The real estate listings website forecast that mortgage rate will average 6.3% next year, slightly easing affordability pressures, while home prices will edge up by 2.2%. It said existing-home sales should increase by about 1.7% to 4.1 million, a meaningful gain from this year’s near 30-year low. For-sale inventory will continue to recover, surging by 9% year over year.
Homebuyers will see some improvement in their bargaining power in 2026, the report said, as affordability and inventory tick higher, building on the gains they saw in this year. Still, the housing market will not be easy for buyers, it said, although there will be more sales in 2026. That's a sign that more buyers will be able to navigate the market’s challenges.
Realtor.com said that although national trends are instructive, what matters most is the situation in homebuyers’ local markets. There will be substantial regional variation.
The platform’s model-based forecast uses data on the housing market and overall economy to estimate values for these variables for the year ahead. Its forecast is a projection for annual total home sales increase (total 2026 existing-home sales vs. 2025) and annual median home sales price increase (2026 median existing-home sales price vs. 2025).
See the accompanying gallery for the 12 metro areas with Realtor.com’s highest price growth predictions for 2026.
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