What the 2026 Home Shopping Season Report Means for Your Real Estate Marketing Right Now

What the 2026 Home Shopping Season Report Means for Your Real Estate Marketing Right Now

Every spring, agents ask the same question: Is this the year the market finally opens back up?

This year, Coldwell Banker just answered it — with data.

The 2026 Home Shopping Season Report surveyed more than 700 real estate agents nationwide to capture a real-time pulse on buyer and seller behavior this spring. The findings are packed with insight. But raw data isn’t enough. What matters is what you do with it — how you use it to sharpen your messaging, position yourself as the local expert, and connect with clients who are ready to move.

As a Real Estate Marketing Specialist at Coldwell Banker, I read through the full report and pulled out the five trends every agent should be paying attention to — along with exactly how to use each one in your marketing.

The 2026 Spring Market Is Moving — and Your Marketing Should Be Too

Forty-three percent of agents surveyed say this spring is busier than last year. That’s not a minor uptick — that’s a signal worth acting on. The market is shifting, and the agents who communicate that shift clearly and confidently are the ones who will capture attention right now.

This report gives you that credibility. Let’s break down each trend and what it means for your strategy.

Trend #1 — The Rate Lock-In Effect Is Starting to Loosen

What the Data Says

One of the most significant findings in the 2026 report: 35% of sellers currently working with Coldwell Banker affiliated agents have mortgage rates below 5% — and they’re still planning to sell this spring. Additionally, 39% of agents say the lock-in effect is no longer a meaningful factor in seller decisions, or only a minor one.

That said, 61% of agents still report it as a major or moderate factor. So this isn’t a resolved issue — it’s an evolving one, and that evolution creates a window of opportunity.

What This Means for Your Marketing

If you’ve been waiting for sellers to “come back,” some of them already have. The message that works right now isn’t about rates — it’s about circumstances. Life doesn’t wait for perfect market conditions. Sellers are listing because they need to, not because the numbers are ideal.

Your listing-focused content should lead with empathy and life transitions: relocation, growing families, downsizing, job changes. That’s the real motivator. If your marketing is still anchored to “wait for rates to drop,” you’re speaking to the wrong emotion.

Marketing action: Create a short-form video or carousel post addressing the “I’m locked in at 3% — should I still sell?” question directly. Lead with compassion, not market logic. This is one of the most Googled questions in real estate right now.

Trend #2 — “Comeback Buyers” Are Re-Entering the Market

What the Data Says

Seventy-seven percent of agents say they are currently working with buyers who stepped away from the market in the last two years and are now re-entering. These “comeback buyers” represent approximately 20% of all active homebuyers right now. Most of them (75%) are returning with a similar budget to when they first looked, while 24% have actually increased their buying power.

What This Means for Your Marketing

This is one of the most powerful audience segments you can speak to right now — and most agents aren’t addressing them specifically. Comeback buyers are emotionally invested. They’ve already been through the process. They’re motivated. And they may be in your database right now, sitting dormant.

This is a reactivation opportunity hiding in plain sight.

Marketing action: Pull your database from the last 18–24 months and segment out leads who went cold. Send them a “The market has changed since we last spoke” email or DM referencing that now may be the right moment to re-engage. This is not a mass blast — it’s a personal, data-informed touchpoint. Pair it with a market update post that speaks directly to the “I looked before and stepped back” buyer.

Trend #3 — Buyers Aren’t Waiting for Rates to Drop

What the Data Says

This one might surprise you: 80% of agents say their buyers are actively in the market and not holding out for lower mortgage rates or better conditions. Only 20% of buyers are in a “wait and see” posture this spring. In the Northeast, active buyer activity is especially strong.

What This Means for Your Marketing

If you’ve been crafting content around “when rates drop, buyers will move” — that narrative is largely outdated. The majority of serious buyers have already moved past rates as a barrier. They want homes. They want guidance. They want an agent who understands the current reality.

Your buyer-focused content should reflect urgency without pressure. The message isn’t “hurry before rates go up.” The message is “serious buyers are already out there — are you positioning yourself in front of them?”

Marketing action: Update your buyer-facing content to stop leading with rate predictions. Instead, lead with what active buyers need: guidance on negotiation, how to evaluate homes in a competitive local market, and the value of working with a knowledgeable agent who understands 2026 market conditions specifically. Use this data point as a hook: “80% of today’s buyers aren’t waiting — are you ready for them?”

Trend #4 — Climate Risk Is Becoming a Real Buying Factor

What the Data Says

Thirty-one percent of agents nationally say climate-related concerns — including wildfire risk, flood zones, hurricane exposure, and rising home insurance costs — are playing a bigger role in buyer decisions compared to just one year ago. That number rises to 35% in the South and 39% in the West.

What This Means for Your Marketing

This is a trend most agents are not yet talking about in their content — which makes it a significant opportunity to stand out as a knowledgeable, forward-thinking resource. Buyers are doing this research with or without you. If you become the agent who speaks to it clearly and honestly, you become invaluable.

You don’t have to be an insurance expert or a climate scientist. You simply need to be the person who acknowledges it, knows where to point clients for reliable information, and helps them think through these factors as part of their decision-making process.

Marketing action: If you work in a market with notable climate risk exposure, consider writing or recording a short piece on “What buyers should know about insurance costs and climate risk when purchasing a home in [your market].” This is highly searchable, locally specific, and positions you as a trusted resource rather than just a salesperson. It’s also exactly the kind of content AI search engines surface when buyers are asking these questions.

Trend #5 — The Regional Market Divide Is the Deepest It’s Been in Decades

What the Data Says

This may be the most structurally important finding in the entire report. The U.S. housing market is no longer moving as one — it’s fractured along regional lines in a way that hasn’t been seen since before the Global Financial Crisis.

• Midwest: 70% of agents describe their market as a seller’s market
• Northeast: 74% of agents describe their market as a seller’s market
• South: 56% of agents describe it as a buyer’s market
• West: 46% of agents describe it as a buyer’s market

Nationally, only 25% of agents say their local market is balanced.

What This Means for Your Marketing

National real estate headlines are almost useless to your clients right now. Agents who win in 2026 are the ones who localize the data — who take the national story and translate it for their specific ZIP code, neighborhood, or city.

If you’re in a seller’s market, your content should be showing sellers why now is a strong time to list, backed by local data. If you’re in a buyer’s market, your content should be empowering buyers with the message that they have negotiating power that hasn’t existed in years.

Either way, generic content is a missed opportunity. Hyper-local content built on real data is what gets agents remembered, shared, and referred.

Marketing action: Pull your local market stats (days on market, list-to-sale ratio, inventory levels) and pair them with the regional finding from this report. A post that says “Nationally, markets are split — here’s exactly what’s happening in [Your City]” is instantly more valuable than anything a buyer or seller could find from a national source.

How to Use This Report Across Your Marketing Channels

Data this rich deserves more than one post. Here’s how to stretch it across your content calendar:

Social Media

Break each trend into its own post — that’s five pieces of content from a single source. Use the data point as your hook, then add your local interpretation. “1 in 3 sellers is giving up a rate below 5% — here’s what I’m seeing from sellers in [Your Market].”

Email Newsletter

Send a market update email to your database with a subject line like: “I just read Coldwell Banker’s 2026 Housing Report — here’s what it means for you.” Personalize it by speaking directly to buyers and sellers separately if you have segmented lists.

Video Content

A 3–5 minute breakdown video of the five trends, filmed in your car or at your desk, creates instant authority. You’re not reading the report at them — you’re interpreting it as a local expert. That’s the difference between being informative and being indispensable.

Lead Conversations

When a prospect asks “how’s the market?” — this report is your answer. You’re not guessing. You’re pulling from a survey of 700+ agents and layering in local context. That’s a different level of credibility.

Bottom Line for Real Estate Agents This Spring

The 2026 Home Shopping Season Report from Coldwell Banker makes one thing clear: the market is moving. Sellers are letting go of historic rates. Buyers who stepped away are coming back. And the agents who show up with clear, confident, data-informed communication are the ones who are going to win this season.

Don’t let the data sit on a blog somewhere. Put it to work.