Irvine, Calif. — April 8, 2026 — Auction.com, the nation’s leading distressed real estate marketplace, today released its 2026 Buyer Outlook Report, which shows that local community developers — the primary buyers at distressed property auctions — are the most bearish that they’ve been in the last five years when it comes to the U.S. housing market.

Based on a survey of more than 400 Auction.com buyers in the first quarter of 2026, the report found that 43 percent of buyers expect home prices in their local market to decrease in 2026, the highest share since the survey was first started in 2022. A record-high share of buyers (31 percent) also expect rents to decline in 2026. And while 59 percent of buyers expect to increase their property purchases in 2026, that is the lowest share since 2023 (54 percent).

Despite the bearish outlook for 2026, a record-low share of buyers (36 percent) described their local market as overvalued, indicating that an increasing number of markets are the most affordable they’ve been in five years. Despite this, many buyers still expect further price decreases in 2026, indicating that the market has more to give back in terms of pricing.

“Local community developers buying at auction expect a slow-motion housing correction to continue in 2026,” said Jason Allnutt, Auction.com CEO. “The silver lining is they are also reporting improved affordability in an increasing number of local markets.”

Home Price Expectations by Region

Buyers in the Central region of the country, which includes Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, among other states, were most likely to expect decreasing home prices in 2026 (50 percent) followed by the Southeast (49 percent) and the West (47 percent).

Only 37 percent of buyers in the Northeast region, which includes New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania, among other states, said they expected home prices to decrease in 2026, the lowest of any region.

Forty percent of all buyers expect a modest increase of up to 5 percent in home prices, and 17 percent of all buyers expect an increase of more than 5 percent in 2026, down from 20 percent in 2025 to the lowest level since the survey began in 2022.

Rent Expectations by Region

Buyers in the Southeast region of the country, which includes Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama, among other states, were the most likely to expect decreasing rents in 2026 (42 percent), followed by buyers in the West region (38 percent).

Buyers in the Central region (28 percent) and Northeast region (27 percent) were closely aligned in terms of the share expecting decreasing rents in 2026.

The majority of buyers surveyed (58 percent) expect a modest increase of 1 percent to 5 percent in rents in 2026 while only 11 percent expect rents to increase more than 5 percent for the year – a record low for the survey.

Purchase Expectations by Region

Nearly three out of four buyers located in the Southeast region of the country (73 percent) said they expect their property purchases to increase in 2026, the highest of any region.

In all other regions, under 60 percent of all buyers surveyed said they expected property purchases to increase in 2026, led by the West region at 58 percent and followed by the Northeast region at 57 percent and the Central region at 55 percent.

Several states in the Southeast region posted some of the highest annual increases in foreclosure auction volume in Q4 2025, according to the most recent Auction Market Dispatch from Auction.com.

Those states included Florida (up 176 percent), South Carolina (up 153 percent), Georgia (up 140 percent) and North Carolina (up 138 percent).

About Auction.com

Auction.com is the nation’s leading online marketplace for the disposition of distressed residential properties. The company goes beyond traditional disposition programs, offering tools and services that stabilize neighborhoods, expand homeownership, maximize sales, shorten the sales cycle, yield higher returns, mitigate risks and elevate results. Our seller strategy includes customized and flexible programs, data intelligence and buyer insights, and pioneering technology. This includes Remote Bid®, which expands the buyer base nationwide by letting buyers bid on and win select foreclosure sales from anywhere, and Portfolio Interact™, featuring Bid Interact™. The national footprint for online and in-person auctions includes all 50 states, as well as Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Auction.com is headquartered in Irvine, CA, with offices in key markets nationwide.

Contact

Daren Blomquist
Auction.com

Tel. 949.355.3371

Email: dblomquist@auction.com