For the past couple of years, the prevailing advice for anyone eyeing a home purchase was simple: wait. Wait for rates to drop, wait for prices to soften, wait for the "right" moment. New data suggests that moment of waiting may finally be ending.
According to Bank of America's 2026 Homebuyer Insights Report, 53% of consumers now say buying a home is a better move than renting or moving in with family, the first time a majority has felt that way since 2023. It's a modest shift on paper, but it reflects something bigger: people are done waiting for perfect conditions and are starting to work with the market as it actually is.
Confidence Is Climbing Across the Board
The numbers behind this shift are hard to ignore. Ninety percent of respondents now call a home a valuable investment, up from 79% just last year. Ninety-four percent say homeownership provides stability, up from 83%. And nearly nine in ten say owning a home feels like a milestone or brings real emotional fulfillment.
Maybe most telling: 79% of prospective buyers say they plan to move forward with a purchase regardless of what happens with rates or prices. That's a notable departure from the wait-and-see mentality that's defined the market since rates started climbing. In fact, the number of buyers banking on prices and rates falling before they'll act has dropped from 47% to 40% year over year.
Affordability Hasn't Gotten Easier, Buyers Are Just Getting Creative
None of this means the math has suddenly worked itself out. Affordability is still the number one obstacle standing between buyers and closing day, and more people are feeling that pinch than they were last year, with high home prices and elevated interest rates both cited more often as barriers in 2026 than in 2025.
What's changed is the response. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, buyers are finding workarounds:
- Taking on extra jobs to boost their buying power
- Co-buying with friends or family to split the cost
- Leaning on down payment assistance programs
- Trading a specific location for a more affordable one, or even accepting a higher interest rate to land the right home or neighborhood
That last point stands out. Roughly three in four buyers now say they'd move to a more affordable area or accept a tougher rate to get their dream home, both up notably from just two years ago. There's even a loosening in the so-called "lock-in effect," where homeowners have stayed put rather than give up a low mortgage rate, 52% of current homeowners now expect to buy again, and nearly a quarter of them plan to do it within the year, up from 15% in 2025.
AI Is Entering the Picture, But Trust Still Runs Through People
One of the more interesting shifts is how buyers are researching in the first place. One in five prospective buyers and homeowners have now used AI tools somewhere in their homebuying journey, with adoption led by younger generations, nearly a third of Gen Z buyers have used AI to estimate affordability, research neighborhoods, or just get a general education on the process.
But when it comes to the moments that matter most, like touring a home or navigating a contract, buyers still overwhelmingly want a human in the room. AI is becoming a useful first step, not a replacement for expert guidance.
Gen Z Is Rewriting the Playbook
Younger buyers, in particular, aren't waiting for the market to hand them a break. Nearly a third are considering co-buying with friends or family, roughly the same share are planning to use down payment assistance, and more than a quarter are picking up extra work specifically to fund a home purchase. It's a generation treating homeownership less like a milestone that happens to you and more like a goal you build toward deliberately.
The Takeaway
The housing market in 2026 is still expensive and still competitive. But the mindset shaping it has changed. Buyers aren't holding out for conditions to improve, they're adapting, getting resourceful, and moving forward anyway. If you've been waiting for a sign that now might be the time to start exploring your options, this data suggests you're far from alone.
Source: Bank of America 2026 Homebuyer Insights Report, based on a national survey of 2,000 U.S. adults (1,000 homeowners, 1,000 renters) conducted by Sparks Research, April 13–May 10, 2026. Full Article Here
