Helping Customers Move Past Market Anxiety
Buyers are delaying moves over rate and price worries. For agents, that means resetting expectations, correcting myths and stressing long-term value.
NEW YORK — Housing markets across the country have cooled due to inflation worries and elevated interest rates, among other things, reshaping how home buyers are approaching the market. The uncertainty is leading to hesitation, delayed searches, or unrealistic expectations around affordability.
Although mortgage rates have eased from recent peaks, they remain well above pandemic-era lows, reducing purchasing power and prompting many buyers to wait for conditions that may not materialize. With house prices expected to increase through 2026, any potential savings from slightly lower interest rates may be minimal.
Some ways real estate pros can offset buyer and seller anxiety is to provide some details, including setting realistic expectations and debunking the low-supply and upcoming housing crash myths.
In an uncertain environment, agents are positioned to help buyers move beyond short-term market anxiety by focusing on long-term affordability, realistic budgeting, and the broader economic forces that shape homeownership decisions.
“There’s a simple fact underlying all this advice: The best time to buy a house is yesterday, and the second-best time to buy a house is today. Although this might sound like a cliche, it reflects a solid economic reality,” Luke Babich, CEO of Clever Real Estate in St. Louis, said in Inman. “The market is unpredictable in the short term, but more predictable in the long term. It’s nearly impossible to predict what the market will do over the next month or the next six months, but it has consistently gone up over time.”
Source: Inman (01/13/26) Babich, Luke
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