Read more: How to protect your money as Mideast turmoil fuels market volatility<\/a><\/p>\n Sturtevant remains cautiously optimistic about spring, although she\u2019s more worried than she was a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think all that’s kind of put into question now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Even before the latest shocks, early indicators of how housing market activity has been trending this year have been mixed. Home sales plunged in January, and contract signings were also muted, though a cold wave that hit half the country may have played a role.<\/p>\n February is looking slightly better. Zillow data showed home sales were up 1.8% from a year earlier, likely helped by improving affordability from lower rates. Home price appreciation during that period was a modest 0.4%.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s low and steady housing appreciation with flows of buyers and sellers,\u201d said Zillow senior economist Orphe Divounguy. \u201cThe balance of power between buyers and sellers remains somewhat right down the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, executives at Home Depot and Lowe\u2019s voiced caution about the state of the market, sending those companies’ shares lower.<\/p>\n \u201cOur customers also tell us they have concerns over general economic uncertainty, including inflation, growing job concerns, and higher financing costs,\u201d Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail said on a call discussing the retailer\u2019s fourth quarter earnings. \u201cAs we look ahead to fiscal 2026, we anticipate these pressures will persist, as we have not yet seen a catalyst for an inflection in housing activity.\u201d<\/p>\n Real estate agents gearing up for spring are staying positive, especially after last year proved disappointing in much of the country. Last spring, mortgage rates nearing 7% and uncertainty over tariffs <\/a>and layoffs scared off some buyers and sellers. The ones who stayed in the market often couldn\u2019t agree on price<\/a>, leading to a spike in deal cancellations and pulled listings<\/a>.<\/p>\n said homes in the area are still appreciating healthily and moving quickly. He expects many house hunters who sat out during the region\u2019s unusually cold and snowy winter will be itching to enter the market soon.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some more pent-up demand and interest from buyers,\u201d Linden said.<\/p>\n In Raleigh, N.C., Realtor Jenny Hensley has been busy helping sellers prepare to list their homes. She\u2019s also had a steady stream of inquiries from buyers relocating to the area for a job change or to be closer to family.<\/p>\n What\u2019s been missing, though, is the more casual movers who might be seeking more space or a change of neighborhood. Economic uncertainty and high prices are giving those buyers pause, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is moving out of sheer necessity, and that\u2019s that,\u201d Hensley said.<\/p>\n While affordability has improved for many buyers, those gains have been modest, and any pickup in sales this year is likely to be modest too.<\/p>\n Zillow estimates that a median-income household has about $30,000 more in buying power than it did a year ago, while the title company First American calculates that as of the end of last year, an average household can afford a $417,000 home, a slight cushion over the median home price of $396,000.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about 50% improvements,\u201d Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, said of potential sales activity. \u201cIt\u2019s very, very modest gains over last year\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n Claire Boston<\/a> is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n Click here for the latest personal finance news to help you with investing, paying off debt, buying a home, retirement, and more<\/a><\/p>\n Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo <\/a>Finance<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This spring is supposed to be when the housing market finally begins to thaw out of its three-year-long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,66851,22932,101,16591,231453,5456,2802,5412,22912],"class_list":{"0":"post-510123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-buyers-and-sellers","10":"tag-chief-economist","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-home-depot","13":"tag-home-price-appreciation","14":"tag-housing-market","15":"tag-labor-market","16":"tag-mortgage-rates","17":"tag-zillow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"MIAMI,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/b87a0190-198e-11f1-9f4f-d506c072a486.jpeg\")
A ‘for sale’ sign sits in front of a single-family home on Aug. 1, 2025, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images) \u00b7 Joe Raedle via Getty Images <\/p>\n