Real estate agents often see market shifts before the data confirms them.
Their latest feedback to Zillow suggests the housing market may be entering a new phase.
That perspective comes from Zillow’s Agent Sentiment Survey, a quarterly snapshot of how agents view current market conditions and where they expect things to head next.
Because agents are negotiating deals in real time, their responses often reveal changes in buyer demand, seller behavior, and pricing trends before those shifts fully appear in national housing data.
The latest results point to three clear signals shaping the housing market outlook:
- Buyers are gaining more negotiating power.
- Agents expect transaction activity to increase in 2026.
- Home prices are holding relatively steady.
Byron Lazine broke down the survey results in a recent Hot Sheet.
1. Buyers Are Regaining Negotiating Power
Zillow’s agent survey shows buyers gaining leverage in negotiations, something that has been rare for most of the past several years.
By the fourth quarter of 2025, more agents said market conditions favored buyers than sellers.
Buyers are moving more carefully, often pausing while they evaluate mortgage rates and monthly payments.
Sellers are encountering more resistance and spending more time adjusting expectations.
Survey results highlight how quickly sentiment has moved.
At the start of 2025:
- 47% of agents said the market favored sellers
- 42% said the market favored buyers
- 11% said neither side had an advantage
By the fourth quarter of 2025:
- 51% of agents said the market favored buyers
- 35% said the market favored sellers
- 14% said neither side had an advantage
Agents say uncertainty around mortgage rates continues to influence buyer behavior.
Many buyers remain cautious, which gives them more room to negotiate when they do enter the market.
Meanwhile, some sellers are still anchored to price expectations formed during the pandemic boom. Agents report spending more time helping sellers understand current market conditions and adjust pricing strategies.
Zillow’s broader market data points in the same direction.
Buyer-friendly conditions have emerged in 19 major metro areas, creating more opportunities for households that struggled to compete during the tightest years of the housing shortage.
2. Agents Expect More Home Sales in 2026
Agents also see momentum building for transaction activity over the next year.
The same survey shows growing confidence that more buyers and sellers will return to the market as affordability improves and mortgage rates stabilize.
Many agents describe 2025 as a difficult year for deal volume. Limited inventory and higher borrowing costs kept many potential buyers on the sidelines. As rates begin to ease and supply gradually increases, agents expect more movement across the market.
Agent expectations for the next 12 months:
- 61% expect transaction volume to increase
- 53% expected transaction growth in the third quarter of 2025
Zillow’s national forecast aligns with those expectations. The company projects that existing-home sales will rise in 2026 as improving affordability brings more buyers back into the market:
- 4.26 million existing-home sales projected
- 4.3% increase compared with last year
Recent housing data also shows early signs of momentum.
February existing-home sales rose year over year despite winter storms, suggesting buyers are beginning to re-enter the market.
Zillow Chief Economist, Mischa Fisher put it this way:
“The February Zillow data suggests a market that’s starting to regain its confidence… This rapid rebound is providing some early glimmers of hope that the 2026 housing market has turned a corner.”
Agents describe the outlook in practical terms. As interest rates ease and more inventory comes online, buyers gain more opportunities and sellers gain more consistent demand.
The result points toward a market with steadier activity through 2026.
3. Home Prices Are Holding Relatively Steady
Agents expect price stability to define the housing market heading into 2026. Survey responses show most agents anticipating either modest appreciation or flat prices over the next year.
That outlook reflects a market where demand remains present while affordability continues to limit how quickly prices can rise.
Here’s how survey expectations for the next 12 months break down:
- 51% of agents expect home prices to rise
- 26% expect prices to remain steady
- 23% expect prices to decline
Current housing data supports the view of a steady market:
- Typical U.S. home value: $361,371
- Home values increased 0.4% year over year
- Newly pending listings grew 3.5% year over year
- The share of homes selling above list price increased compared with last year
These figures suggest that serious buyers remain active in the market.
Homes that are priced appropriately continue to attract competition, even as buyers take more time evaluating their options.
Agents describe the current environment as one where the extremes of the past several years are beginning to fade.
Prices are holding steady while inventory gradually increases, allowing the market to move toward a more balanced footing in 2026.
All three takeaways are worth incorporating into your conversations with local buyers and sellers. Buyers are still grappling with affordability challenges, and both buyers and sellers contend with alarmist headlines on a daily or at least weekly basis.
You are the antidote.
