A new Intel survey of 3,000 U.S. working adults shows how consumer attitudes toward homebuying could boost the market in the spring and summer, but a full recovery could take longer.
In January it said more potential homebuyers were likely to enter the housing market in 2026, but new survey data suggests a strong recovery may have to wait until next year.
Increased awareness of affordability has led to a slight year-over-year increase in the percentage of working adults in the U.S. who say they are likely to buy a home next year, according to the latest consumer survey results from Inman-Dig Insights.
But that’s only part of the picture.
Intel’s review of new data reveals that another, even larger group of U.S. adults who were previously hesitant to enter the market have closed their doors. And they are poised to remain closed even if interest rates are much lower than they have been in the past.
If expectations hold for the busy spring and summer seasons, these results could indicate a positive trend in volumes this year.
But that may not be enough to lift the securities industry out of this depressed trading environment.
For more details on the results, check out this week’s Intel report.
Widening disparity
The results suggest that consumers have a more positive outlook on homebuying overall compared to this time last year.
Nearly half (45%) of U.S. adults surveyed in January said it’s a good time to buy a home. This is up from 40% who expressed a similar opinion a year ago and from a low of 30% in April.
This improved outlook appears to be driven in part by the perception that house price growth is slowing.
But this also reflects a change in attitudes towards mortgage rates, which, although down from their highest levels in recent months, are still roughly twice as high as they were a few years ago.
Those who said it was a good time to sell their home were more likely than ever to cite the idea that consumers were getting used to higher mortgage rates as the reason. In January, 32% of the group cited this reason, up from 24% last year. Of those who think it’s a good time to buy a home, 39% say mortgage rates remain historically favorable, compared to 34% last year.
In the survey, some homeowners said they felt less likely to have fixed interest rates than they did a year ago.
61% of mortgage holders who said they were “very likely” to buy a home next year had current loan interest rates below 5%. This is up from 51% of mortgage holders “very likely to buy” last year, driven by particularly strong activity among homeowners with interest rates between 4% and 5%.
However, these homeowners have increasingly adapted to a higher interest rate environment from 2022 onwards, while other homeowners have been less responsive to recent interest rate relief.
This time last year, nearly 8% of working adults in the United States said they would seriously consider entering the housing market if mortgage rates dropped to 5.5%. By January, the proportion of people keeping fences had fallen to less than 5 percent of adults.
However, this was not a widespread shift to homebuying, nor was it a wholesale shift away from the housing market.
In fact, some consumers who were on the sidelines a year ago have now taken different positions on the same market, with some now convinced that it’s time to look for a home in the next 12 months, and others with a newfound conviction that now is not the time.
And the real change in mortgage rates doesn’t convince some people.
Twenty-five percent of all January survey respondents said they were unlikely to buy and that no mortgage rate would persuade them to buy. That percentage has steadily increased from 23% the previous year. Additionally, 24% of adults say interest rates need to be below 4%, and in some cases much lower, to consider buying a home.
Taken together, these results suggest that the spring and summer 2026 housing market may be poised to continue on a gradual improving trajectory, although a stronger recovery remains elusive.
About Inman-Dig Insights Consumer Research
The Inman-Dig Insights consumer survey was conducted January 7-8 to assess Americans’ opinions and behaviors regarding homebuying.
The study sampled a diverse group of 3,000 full-time or part-time employed American adults between the ages of 24 and 65. Participants were selected to create a broadly representative breakdown by gender and region.
Statistical rigor was maintained throughout the study, and the results should be largely representative of attitudes held by U.S. adults with full-time or part-time jobs. Both Inman and Dig Insights are majority-owned by Toronto-based Bellinger Capital.
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