Trends

Bigger, bolder, better: The top bathroom trends of 2026

Popular bathroom upgrades in 2026 include bolder accents, specialized water features and structural changes.

NAHREP: Hispanic families drive US household, homeownership growth

Since the Hispanic Wealth Project’s founding in 2014, Hispanic household wealth has more than tripled across the U.S.

Rental interest points to Chicago as a housing market to watch

Over the past year, 30.9% of rental listing page views in Chicago came from out-of-towners.

The United States’ ‘K-shaped’ housing market

Active buyers are looking for more expensive homes, while price-constrained buyers are looking at fewer homes altogether.

Is the data center boom affecting residential real estate?

Three years after the opening of a large center, ZIP codes retained 66% of their pre-opening active listings, compared to 43% in similar areas without a data center.

Chicagoland sales, prices rise while inventory falls in June

The same trends were seen in the city of Chicago and across Illinois. 

This year’s top exterior home trends

Curb appeal is important to today’s homeowners — that is, they want the exteriors of their homes to appeal to their own preferences and sensibilities rather than those of potential buyers.

Realtor.com: Buyers ‘rewarding’ sellers for adjusted listing price expectations

Amid what Realtor.com called the most active spring in years, the housing market is finding a new equilibrium.

The most popular home trends of 2026

Houzz compared first quarter user activity to year-ago levels to determine the emerging home trends for summer 2026. Here’s what they found.

Is the American Dream even on the table anymore?

Short answer: Yes. But not quite in the way mom and dad did it, according to a survey of over 2,000 American renters and would-be homeowners.

Zillow: Buyers want exposed beams and arched doorways

Among over 600 home features and design aspects, exposed beams were the most popular — home listings featuring the element saw 19.7% more engagement on Zillow.com.

Boomers still buying the most US homes as first-time buyers fall to all-time low

Boomers made up 42% of all homebuyers during the period from July 2024 to June 2025, unchanged from the same time a year prior. Millennials lost market share, making up 26% of buyers, down 3% year over year.

Empty-nesters own more than a third of three-bedroom homes in US

Redfin noted that millennials are currently the largest generation, making the rate of boomer homeownership even more outsized in comparison.

Trends: How new construction will adapt to address the housing supply shortage

The 2026 National Housing Supply Summit was held in Washington, D.C., on March 18.

Why Chicagoland’s international buyer market is too big to ignore

Illinois isn’t a foreign buyer’s market waiting to happen. It is one that’s been quietly thriving for years.  

Amount buyers need to afford typical home falls for 2nd month in a row after 5 years of increases

After five years of worsening, housing affordability has finally started to improve, according to a new Redfin study. 

New Subscribe

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.