In my years as a real estate market reporter, spring has been the prime home-buying season, year in and year out. That proved true for me when I bought my first home, as I did most of my house hunting in the month of April.
However, data from real estate technology company Zillow reveals that people didn’t buy as many houses as usual in April 2026.
According to the Zillow April Market Report, increasing mortgage rates held homebuyers back in April. And for the first month in 2026, year-over-year new home listings outpaced home sales.
When supply is higher than demand, there is a significant impact on both buyers and sellers.
Zillow shows inventory is up, sales are down
Nationwide, the total number of properties for sale in April was 1.3 million, according to the Zillow April Market Report. Monthly active inventory rose by 5.8%, and annual inventory was up by 3.7%.
The number of new listings in April was 426,000. This was a 10.7% jump since March and a 2.1% increase since April 2025.
Right now, Zillow only has the preliminary sales count for April. The company will release the updated count in mid-May. But according to the preliminary data, homebuyers purchased 323,631 properties in April.
On one hand, home sales are up 7.9% since March. On the other hand, they’re down 0.4% since last April.
Related: Berkshire Hathaway sends urgent message to home sellers
What does this mean for sellers? The conditions vary on your local market, but overall, you should prepare for it to take longer than you may have hoped for your house to sell. Longer listing times translate to less leverage, so you should talk with your real estate agent about how to price your home realistically and what seller’s concessions you’d be willing to offer buyers.
As for how these numbers affect homebuyers — it’s a mixed bag. Unfortunately, they signal that fewer buyers are entering the market right now, mostly due to high mortgage rates and other affordability factors.
What if you can still afford to buy a home right now, though? Then that’s good news for you. Because with less competition and sellers eager to get their homes off the market, the price and terms of sale might lean in your favor.
Shutterstock
How home values and mortgage rates are affecting the market
Mortgage rates have been unstable in 2026, and many experts predict they will remain volatile. They’ll increase for a few weeks, then decrease for a month, then inch back up.
Freddie Mac mortgage rates started and ended April with hikes, with three weeks of declines in between. Even when rates were lower mid-month, they still remained well above 6%. Zillow research attributes much of the weaker sales figures last month to high home loan rates.
More on real estate and the housing market:
- The hidden reason mortgage rates won’t drop yet
- Latest mortgage rate news throws buyers another curveball
- Redfin issues blunt warning about mortgage rates and housing market
Month-over-month home values increased in all 50 of the largest U.S. metros. This isn’t surprising, since housing prices typically rise over the course of the homebuying season.
Year-over-year home values are a different story, though. Zillow’s data show that annual values decreased in nearly half of the 50 largest metro areas. Nationwide annual home values have only ticked up by 0.7%.
When it comes to home affordability, buyers are in a sticky place. Mortgage rates are making housing less affordable, while decreasing prices are softening the blow in certain parts of the country.
What does Zillow’s housing market data mean for homebuyers and sellers?
So Zillow has provided us with a lot of important numbers about the spring housing market. But what does this data realistically mean for people buying and selling homes?
- Mortgage rates are still lower than last April, so homebuyers are in a better position now than a year ago. “Slightly friendlier conditions for buyers point to the chance of a quick rebound if rates fall back to the 6% range seen earlier this year,” Mischa Fisher, chief economist for Zillow Group, writes in the report.
- However, despite Fisher’s words, it’s unlikely that rates will fall to 6% in the near future. Rates may inch down here and there, but economists expect them to stay above 6% in 2026. Fannie Mae’s April Housing Forecast put the 30-year fixed rate at 6.1%-6.3% through the end of 2027.
- Homebuyers should decide whether they can afford a home at today’s mortgage rates, rather than holding out for them to plummet this spring or summer.
- Less demand means sellers should prepare for their houses to stay on the market for longer. However, some data suggest that the end of May is the best time to sell a house, so May might produce better results than April.
- High housing inventory helps homebuyers, often resulting in more choices, less competition, and more reasonable prices.
- On the other hand, high inventory is tough for sellers because it gives them less leverage, and the house might not sell as quickly or for as much money as they had expected.
Related: Housing market shift offers big opportunities in May 2026
