Home prices have risen 54% nationwide since 2020—which, combined with elevated mortgage rates, has priced many would-be buyers out of the market even as price growth slows, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University’s State of the Nation’s Housing 2026 report. The squeeze is felt most by younger adults and households of color, pushing homeownership rates down and leaving home sales stagnant, according to the report.
Economic uncertainty, a weakening labor market and a sharp drop in immigration have slowed household formation, while residential mobility has fallen to record lows as both owners and renters stay put. Non-mortgage costs—insurance, property taxes and energy—are climbing as well, raising the cost of ownership even for households that do buy.
New single-family construction slowed in 2025, with starts down 7%, and builders are responding to affordability pressure by shifting toward smaller, lower-priced homes and the build-to-rent market. Yet inventories of unsold homes are rising and the stock of low-cost housing continues to shrink, keeping affordability stretched despite the cooler price trajectory.
With mobility at record lows and a purchase out of reach for many, the existing housing stock rather than new construction is increasingly where housing needs are being met.
Read the full report here.
