March 27, 2026
Overview
- The Realtor.com® economics team video update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week every Friday to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
- For the week ending March 27, Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale discusses the latest mortgage rate data and how the conflict in Iran is squeezing homebuyers.
- She then covers the latest weekly housing data from Realtor.com showing some buyer-friendly signs alongside increased buyer patience. Danielle discusses how this may affect the upcoming Best Time To Sell, and highlights which local markets see favorable conditions already.
- Finally, Danielle digs into three recent Realtor.com Economics reports: a look at the luxury housing market in Raleigh-Cary, NC, compared to the Washington, DC, metro area; a review of mobile homes, including where they are and how prices have trended; and finally, a look at who is renting and the factors that drive their decision-making.
- Find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates and Instagram @realtordotcomecon for graphics.
Reports and articles referenced
Housing data for download
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- Mortgage rates continue to climb. Could they undermine what’s typically the best time to sell? I’m Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, and I’ll explain what buyers and sellers can expect as we move toward the spring market. Plus, I’ll highlight findings from three illuminating recent reports.
- Mortgage rates rose 16 basis points—their largest one-week increase in nearly a year and the largest three-week increase in nearly a year and a half. Homebuyers are squeezed from multiple sides as higher rates reduce buying power and higher oil prices undermine consumer confidence.
- Mortgages rates are still lower than they were one year ago, but home shoppers have had to reset their budgets, and this is likely to be a drag on sales in the next few months.
- Weekly housing data shows that sellers entering the market seem to have lower price expectations compared to last year, with the typical asking price down nearly 2% compared to the prior year. This favorable news for buyers is somewhat offset by the uneven participation of sellers. New listings have fluctuated with more or less participation week to week.
- While buyer-friendly signs remain, there’s also evidence that buyers are being patient. The total number of homes for sale continues to climb, due in part because homes are sitting for longer on the market.
- This comes at a pivotal time. Spring has an outsized impact on the housing market because a seasonal increase in home shopping ushers in favorable conditions for sellers. While analysis by Hannah Jones shows that the national best time to sell is still a few weeks away, the best time to list a home for sale in Cincinnati, Seattle, and Grand Rapids is next week. And for an additional 16 markets, sellers could capitalize on ideal seasonal timing by listing this week.
- I want to dive into some recently released reports from the Realtor.com economics team. In the first, Anthony Smith examines luxury housing in Raleigh-Cary, NC, and the Washington, DC, metro area. More than geographic proximity, Raleigh and Greater DC are both markets driven by knowledge work, a linkage reflected in data showing that the Washington, DC, metro area is the No. 1 source market for out-of-town home shoppers interested in Raleigh-Cary.
- In the second report, Joel Berner finds that mobile homes are a lower cost if not particularly prevalent type of home nationwide. The report highlights pricing trends and also shows that mobile homes are more often found in nonmetro areas and warmer climates, including many markets in Florida and the Southwest.
- In the third report, Jiayi Xu examines who today’s renters are, breaking down three big categories of renters: young households, family households, and long-term renters.
- Together, these categories account for over 80% of all renter households, with modest overlap across the three groups. Across each of these categories, however, a common theme emerges: affordability.
- Young renters aren’t flocking to the biggest cities but midsized markets like Colorado Springs, Austin, and Denver, where rents are far more affordable and they’re less likely to need to take on a roommate. Family renters are concentrated in majority-minority markets in California, Texas, and Florida, where affordability is strained and conditions are crowded. Generational wealth plays a role here, too, as we know that homeownership lags among minority households and the benefits of homeownership are passed down less often. Finally long-term renters are concentrated in rent-regulated anchor cities like New York City and L.A., where stabilization policies help keep rents affordable but ultimately can lock households in place.
- You can find all of these reports, including alongside our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates and instagram for graphics.
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive monthly updates and notifications on the latest data and research.
