On the list of “Affordability Items,” housing cost is a big player. Having adequate supplies of available housing helps keep costs affordable. Recent surveys and economic data are showing that 2026 is finally showing starts of the turnaround in the housing market that many Americans have been waiting for to activate an improved economy and opportunities for home buyers, home sellers, home builders, and apartment home dwellers of any age. Zillow’s March 2026 market report cited over 281,000 new listings pending in March and noted that this is the second highest of any month since August 2022.
In the real estate business, we often hear that a lot depends upon “location, location, location.” That remains true in the national housing outlook. In Phoenix, Arizona, for example, the recent desert temperatures remained hot but the housing market there doesn’t share that heat. After a wave of new construction flooded the area, Phoenix now remains a relatively flat neutral market as of March 2026 when examining U.S. cities for housing heat. Data from the end of April show that the average home value in Phoenix is down 2.4% over the past year, with listings taking nearly one month to sell. In Appleton, Wisconsin, April home sales increased with median home prices up 7.4% over the past year. An analysis of 2025 home sales statewide in Georgia left some analysts and local realtors declaring it to be the strongest buyer’s market in over a decade. In the country’s Midwest region, a Redfin summary of the Nebraska housing market for March 2026, showed homes prices were up 5.3% year-over-year, the number of homes sold rose 15%, and the number of homes for sale rose 2%.
There may be good news coming from federal policymakers (we know, good news out of Washington, D.C.?). While we hear a lot about the controversies and partisan fighting in Congress, earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” H.R. 6644, by an overwhelmingly bi-partisan vote of 396-13. The bill will next be considered, again, by the U.S. Senate since there are slight differences between an earlier version that was passed by the Senate.
If enacted, major provisions of the legislation promise to limit large institutional investors from competing against individual homebuyers, remove federal regulatory barriers in federal programs, and streamline community bank examination and lending rules to provide local banks with less federal mortgage lending paperwork requirements. Having federal lawmakers making moves to reduce regulatory governmental requirements is rare. We view this as a positive indicator.