HomeServices warns housing industry is ignoring future buyers

HomeServices of America says the U.S. housing industry is focused on seller concerns while a deeper affordability crisis is locking out the next generation of buyers. The company’s new white paper says homeownership is increasingly out of reach for younger households and that the long-term health of the market depends on restoring access.

Why it matters: - HomeServices of America says the housing market’s biggest problem is not seller distress, but the shrinking pipeline of future buyers. - The company argues that if younger households keep getting priced out, the industry risks weakening future home sales, related services and long-term demand. - The white paper says delayed homeownership can reduce household wealth over time, making the affordability problem a broader economic issue.

What happened: - HomeServices of America released a white paper titled "The Real American Housing Crisis: What's Happening to Our Future Homeowners?" on July 30, 2026. - The report says the residential real estate industry is focused too heavily on Days on Market, price cuts and listing visibility. - The company says those concerns center on sellers, while the more urgent challenge is the affordability crunch facing people who have not bought a home yet. - The full white paper is available for download at the company's announcement.

The details: - The white paper cites Gallup, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau, NAR and Realtor.com. - U.S. homeowner equity has reached $35 trillion, an all-time high. - National home values rose 75% to 90% over the past decade, according to the report. - The typical mortgage-holding homeowner now carries $302,000 in equity. - Baby Boomers account for 55% of all sellers and 42% of all buyers. - The share of non-homeowners who expect to buy a home within five years has fallen to 19% in 2026, a record low. - That figure was 41% to 49% from 2013 to 2018. - Among non-homeowners ages 18 to 34, the share expecting to buy within five years has fallen from 57% to 29% over the same period. - Realtor.com’s 2026 Generational Wealth & Housing Report says buying a home before age 30 is linked to a 22.5% higher net worth by age 50 than renting. - That advantage is cut in half by the late 30s and disappears after age 43. - The average time needed to save for a down payment is now nearly a decade. - The report says the white-Black homeownership gap is now more than 30 percentage points, wider than in 1968 when the Fair Housing Act passed. - The paper also says the affordability crisis hits Black and Hispanic households disproportionately.

Between the lines: - The report is making a strategic argument, not just a market observation: transparency and buyer access are presented as essential to the industry’s future. - Chris Kelly, president and CEO of HomeServices of America, said the data does not support a story of seller distress and that the true crisis is on the buyer side. - Kelly said workers such as teachers, nurses and young professionals are rationally concluding that ownership is closed or heavily obstructed. - The company warns that limiting housing information, inventory visibility and pricing transparency could deepen the problem. - That would protect short-term seller leverage, but could shrink the next wave of customers the industry needs.

What's next: - HomeServices of America is using the white paper to push a wider industry debate about affordability, transparency and access. - The report implies that market participants may need to shift focus from near-term seller tactics to policies and practices that expand the buyer pool. - The company says the long-term outcome depends on whether future households can still realistically enter homeownership.

The bottom line: - HomeServices is arguing that the housing crisis is not mainly about today’s sellers. It is about whether tomorrow’s buyers will ever get in.