Housing market may have finally ‘turned a corner’ 

While the Iran war and rising mortgage rates have sapped momentum from the start of the spring homebuying season, a couple of new reports indicate that there is some demand returning to the market.

Upticks in pending listings, home sales, online home searches: In its March Market Report, Zillow estimates that average daily page views of for-sale listings on its website were up 32% compared to a year ago.

The report also estimates that there was a 4.6% year-over-year increase in pending listings and a 3.7% increase in home sales — though those figures could be revised later this month — while the share of listings with a price reduction remains elevated at 22.6% in March, down 0.8 percentage points year-over-year but up 2.4 percentage points from February.

A 'noteworthy improvement': Despite broader economic uncertainty, there are "persistent signals that the market has turned a corner," according to Mischa Fisher, Zillow's chief economist.

"Pent-up demand from three years of low sales volume and winter storms in January and February, along with the tailwind from lower mortgage rates earlier in the year, seem to have buoyed the market as home shopping season kicked off," Fisher said, adding that the uptick of page views per listing that Zillow recorded in March "was a noteworthy improvement over the dormant market of recent years."

While more consumers are checking out listings online, this hasn't yet translated into an uptick in mortgage applications. Weekly overall activity dropped 10.4% for the week ending March 27 compared to one week earlier, while the purchase index fell 3%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

If home shoppers can overcome concerns about the economy, the housing market appears to be more friendly toward buyers than it was a year ago. Even with 30-year mortgage rates now around 6.5%, Zillow estimates that the monthly mortgage payment for a typical U.S. home is $1,789, down 4.4% compared to a year ago. 

A 'more balanced' market: A separate report from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) found that, despite the current international turmoil roiling economic markets, the housing market is on better footing now than it was a year ago, with year-over-year affordability gains in 99 of the 100 largest U.S. markets as overall inventory continues to build.

"That combination is helping this spring market feel better supplied and more balanced than in recent years, even as rate volatility reasserts itself," said Andy Walden, head of mortgage and housing market research at ICE.

Inventory growth, however, has slowed. Though up 8% year-over-year in March, active listings were still 11% below the pre-pandemic 2017-2019 average, according to the ICE report.

Meanwhile, ICE's 2026 Borrower Insights Survey suggested that existing home activity may remain sluggish as more people elect to stay in place. The survey found that 62% of homeowners do not plan to sell their home anytime soon, up from 55% in 2024.

Baby boomer homeowners in particular aren't interested in moving. With 80% saying they don't plan to sell, the larger homes that many currently occupy will "remain locked for the foreseeable future," ICE's report said.