REAL Brokerage
October 30, 2026
MIAMI, Florida - October 30, 2026
Real REMAX Group, the real estate platform formed from the combination of The Real Brokerage and REMAX, says the agents in its network are seeing a housing market increasingly tilted toward buyers, but one where high mortgage rates are keeping many of those buyers on the sidelines. The findings come from the company's September 2026 Agent Survey, released October 30.
The survey drew responses from 177 real estate agents affiliated with The Real Brokerage Inc. across the United States and Canada, and was conducted between October 1 and October 9, 2026. The company said the results are meant to capture industry-level conditions and are not an indication of its own company-specific growth or transaction volume.
The company's Agent Optimism Index, which measures agents' 12-month outlook, fell to 45.8 in September from 54.3 in August, dropping below the 50 mark that signals a net positive view. Twenty-seven percent of agents said they felt more optimistic than the prior month, while 39 percent said they felt more pessimistic. Real REMAX Group's Transaction Growth Index, which tracks home sales activity agents report in their local markets, slipped to 40.3 from 44.6. More than half of agents, 52 percent, reported fewer transactions than in September 2025, while 29 percent reported no change and 19 percent reported an increase.
Fifty-five percent of agents described their local market as favoring buyers, up from 46 percent in August. Only 11 percent described seller-favorable conditions, down from 19 percent, and 34 percent called their markets balanced. Sixty-seven percent named mortgage rates and affordability as the biggest challenge facing buyers, up from 58 percent a month earlier, followed by economic uncertainty at 22 percent and inventory constraints at just 6 percent. The company said both the buyer-favorable reading and the affordability reading were the highest since its survey began.
Asked how higher rates are changing behavior, 66 percent of agents said buyers are pausing or delaying their home searches, 44 percent said buyers are becoming more selective or negotiating harder, and 26 percent said buyers are lowering their target prices. On the selling side, 39 percent said prospective sellers are delaying plans to list, 35 percent reported more willingness among sellers to cut asking prices, and 34 percent said sellers are more willing to offer concessions.
Looking ahead, nearly two-thirds of agents, 65 percent, said 30-year mortgage rates would have to fall below 6 percent to meaningfully stimulate demand, including 37 percent who said rates would need to fall below 5.5 percent. If rates stay above 7 percent through 2027, roughly half of agents expect home sales to decline compared with 2026 and 36 percent expect activity to stay flat, while nearly 60 percent anticipate lower home prices, including 33 percent who expect declines of more than 5 percent.
"Higher mortgage rates are putting renewed pressure on an already challenging housing market," said Tamir Poleg, Chairman and CEO of Real REMAX Group. "Buyers have more negotiating leverage today, but affordability remains a significant obstacle, causing many to delay their home searches. Agents are also seeing sellers reconsider their plans or become more flexible on pricing. Looking ahead, the survey suggests that a sustained recovery in housing activity will depend heavily on meaningful relief in mortgage rates."
For a brokerage whose agents earn through transaction commissions and whose model also rewards agents for attracting other agents to the platform, a slower market translates directly into pressure on agent income. Real REMAX Group, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker REAX, says it supports more than 180,000 agents, more than 100,000 of them in the U.S. and Canada, with a presence in more than 120 countries and territories. The full survey summary is posted on the company's investor relations website.