Buyers and sellers fear housing market crash in 2026

Many Americans in the housing market fear a real estate downturn in the new year, while nearly 

all anticipate challenges, a new consumer survey shows.

Forty percent of Americans planning to buy or sell a home in 2026 worry about a potential market crash, and 98% of them expect challenges, according to a new report from Clever Offers, a platform owned by Clever Real Estate.

Just 40% of buyers and sellers believe the U.S. economy is heading in the right direction, and 40% expect the economy to worsen next year, compared to 27% who think it will improve, according to Clever Offers.

To avoid additional costs, 45% of 2026 sellers are considering not using a real estate agent, up from 33% last year.

More than half of buyers and sellers anticipate home prices to rise next year, compared to 42% of agents, while 30% of agents expect home prices to fall, significantly higher than the 16% of buyers and sellers, Clever Offers found.

But all groups still expect the market to be fairly active in 2026. Almost 75% of buyers and sellers think next year will be a good time to buy (73%) and sell (72%), with agents expressing similar optimism at 77% and 75%, respectively.

What the market will look like is still in question, as 42% of buyers and sellers predict a buyer's market, 34% a seller's market and 23% a balanced one. Agents have similar expectations, according to Clever Offers.

A recent survey from Remax echoed those sentiments, as 88% of prospective homebuyers said they are "very" or "somewhat likely" to purchase a home next year. At the same time, 71% of respondents said current market conditions caused delays in their homebuying process, and 79% said more affordable home prices would help them buy sooner.

While more than half of real estate agents think 2026 will be a better year for the real estate market than 2025, 96% still predict challenges, Clever Offers found.

A recent forecast from First American's September Real House Price Index presents some reasons for optimism, expecting housing affordability to improve by 3% by the end of next year, due to income growth exceeding house price appreciation.

"Affordability remains challenging, but for the first time in several years, the underlying forces are finally aligned toward gradual improvement," First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming said in a press release earlier this month.