A third of sellers listing this spring have sub-5% mortgages, while most buyers aren’t waiting for rates to drop — spurring market activity, a new survey found.
Key points:
- Homebuying activity is up compared to last spring, according to 43% of agents in a national Coldwell Banker survey.
- The “lock-in” effect appears to be losing its grip on many homeowners, who are giving up their low-rate mortgages in order to sell.
- Agents are seeing a large share of “comeback buyers” who’ve reentered the market after previously pausing their home search — but most haven’t increased their budgets.
Home sales may be down nationally, but some real estate professionals are seeing more activity in their local markets. According to Coldwell Banker Real Estate’s 2026 Home Shopping Season Report, 43% of agents surveyed are experiencing more buyer and seller interest this spring compared to last year.
The April 22 report, based on a survey of 727 Coldwell Banker agents across the country between March 23 and April 6, 2026, suggests that consumers aren’t necessarily waiting for mortgage rates to fall further before entering the market.
Buyers, sellers more ‘deliberate’
“We’re seeing movement on both sides of the housing market this spring, but it’s deliberate,” Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, said in a press statement.
“Buyers are ready to act, but they want homes that provide long-term financial and emotional value, and they’re not rushing into any decision,” Waugh continued.
“On the seller side, many homeowners are moving because their life circumstances necessitate a change, driving them to list even when they’re losing a historically low mortgage rate in the process.”
Mortgage rates, market conditions less of a factor
Homeowners are becoming less attached to their low, pandemic-era mortgage rates, Coldwell Banker’s study suggested.
Agents reported that around one in three of their seller clients were planning to list their home this spring — despite having an existing mortgage rate below 5%. While 39% of agents said the rate “lock-in effect” was not a meaningful factor in their sellers’ decisions to list now, 61% of agents cited it as a “major” or “moderate” factor.
More than a third of agents (36%) noted that “life happens” situations were motivating clients to sell regardless of current market conditions.
On the buyer side, just 20% of agents said prospective buyers are waiting for either better market conditions or lower mortgage rates to jump into the market. That was particularly true in the Northeast, where supply is tight, while agents in the South — which has seen strong inventory growth — were more likely to say their buyers are holding out.
Geopolitical tensions and the conflict in Iran are making some buyers more hesitant, however, with 29% of agents reporting that buyers are delaying their decision in light of those issues.
‘Comeback buyers’ dominate
A whopping 77% of Coldwell Banker agents said they’re currently working with buyers who have jumped back in the market after previously pausing their home search. About 20% of buyers had put their search on hold within the last two years.
Notably, even though home prices have continued to rise, most of those buyers haven’t changed their budgets. Only 24% of agents working with returning buyers said their clients had increased their budgets as they resumed their search.
Climate concerns on the rise
Buyers are increasingly worried about environmental risks and related costs, particularly in regions that experience more extreme weather, the survey found.
Nearly a third (31%) of agents surveyed said climate-related concerns, like home insurance costs or wildfire risks, are more of a factor in the homebuying decision than they were a year ago. And in the South and West — where hurricanes and wildfires have caused significant property damage in recent years — that share increases to 35% and 39%, respectively.
Market differences more pronounced
There’s a growing regional divide in buyers and sellers markets, according to the report.
The Midwest and Northeast appear to be solidly in sellers market territory, with 70% of Midwest agents and 74% of Northeast agents describing their markets that way.
Meanwhile, 56% of agents in the South and 46% of agents in the West reported that they are in buyers markets. On a national level, only 25% of agents said their market is balanced.