Real Brokerage's May 2026 survey shows agent optimism sliding and buyers pulling back on affordability concerns
The spring housing market is underperforming, and agent sentiment in May 2026 confirms it.
Real estate technology platform The Real Brokerage Inc. released its May 2026 Agent Survey this week, showing declining optimism, more selective buyers, and a selling season that has broadly missed its early-year targets.
Real's Agent Optimism Index fell to 61.3 in May from 64.0 in April, extending a retreat from February's 70.3 peak. Fifty-one percent of agents reported feeling more optimistic than the prior month.
The index is a proprietary measure of agents' 12-month forward outlook, scored on a 0–100 scale where 50 signals a neutral view.
The spring shortfall
Thirty-eight percent of agents said the spring selling season is tracking weaker than their expectations for 2026, including 13% who called conditions "much weaker." Just 29% reported a stronger-than-anticipated spring, while 33% said activity was on track.
Economic headwinds are driving the gap. Nearly 79% of respondents said recent developments such as rate movements, market volatility, and geopolitical headlines, are having at least a moderate impact on clients' decision-making.
Rising mortgage rates have eroded the spring affordability gains many buyers had counted on: the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.53% as of May 28, 2026, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, a significant climb from 6.05% in February, which had been the lowest reading since 2022.
Affordability was the top buyer challenge in May, cited by 44% of agents; economic uncertainty followed at 27%, inventory at 17%.
Buyers pull back, sellers follow
Forty-two percent of agents described their local markets as buyer-favorable, versus just 25% who reported seller-favorable conditions.
Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association, previously told Mortgage Professional America that "in more and more markets around the country, it's going to be a buyer's market as opposed to a seller's market," a forecast Real's May figures reinforce.
Buyer behavior has shifted in measurable ways: 39% of agents said clients are increasingly requesting seller concessions, while 36% reported buyers are delaying searches or reducing budgets.
Sellers are adapting as 39% of agents said sellers are more willing to negotiate on pricing or concessions, and 27% said sellers are hesitating to list.
"The spring market has been slower than many agents anticipated at the start of the year, but we're seeing buyers and sellers adapt to market conditions," said Tamir Poleg, chairman and CEO of Real.
"Buyers are taking a more measured approach to purchasing decisions, while sellers are increasingly willing to negotiate to get deals done."
Real's Transaction Growth Index, which tracks year-over-year home sales activity reported by agents in their local markets, edged up to 51.5 in May from 50.6 in April, staying above the 50 threshold that signals annual growth.
Thirty-five percent of agents reported stronger transaction volume than May 2025. With US home prices holding steady through a restrained spring — up 1.7% year over year in Q1 2026 per the FHFA House Price Index — and inventory building across a wide range of markets, the market appears to be finding equilibrium rather than momentum.
The May 2026 Agent Survey drew responses from 507 real estate agents across the United States and Canada between May 27 and June 5, 2026.
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