Cotality Insights

Overview: National single-family home price growth reaccelerated modestly in August, rising 1.8% year-over-year compared to 1.6% in July. Severe inventory shortages driven by sub-4% mortgage rate lock-ins and lack of new construction kept strong year-over-year gains in Illinois (6.8%), Connecticut (6.3%), with Indiana and New Jersey (5.6%). Condominiums and townhomes rose by only 0.1% year-over-year, reflecting persistent drag from rising HOA assessments and insurance costs.

Record-level wealth has accumulated in properties across the globe. But accessing that wealth has become a pricey proposition. Capital gains taxes increasingly burden homeowners and investors, dissuading many from selling and contributing to the stagnation of global property markets. One in 12 U.S. sellers now pay capital gains tax on profits from selling a primary residence — that’s a seven-percentage point jump from the early 2010s, according to Cotality analysis.

Their version of loyalty is practical. Younger buyers described wanting regular check-ins, market monitoring, and personalized refinancing or optimization opportunities. They also want a lender to notice when circumstances change and make contact without waiting to be chased. Their digital fluency may strengthen that expectation. Gen Z is used to services that remember preferences, monitor activity, and provide timely prompts.

Households rarely let the mortgage go at the first sign of trouble. They may spend months trying to keep it current, finding room elsewhere in the budget and drawing on whatever reserves remain. By the time a borrower falls 90 days behind, the strain recorded in servicing data has long been felt in belt-tightening actions at home. Cotality’s mortgage performance data shows where those private struggles are beginning to register across loan portfolios.

For a second or two, a David Beckham free kick often looked like a bad idea. The ball left his right foot and drifted towards some patch of air where useful things rarely happen. But then the unexpected happened. The ball would bend its trajectory mid-air, and the goalkeeper was left with the miserable job of turning to pick it out of the net. Homebuyers in 2026 are doing something similar. The straight lines are gone, the property ladder is steeper than in previous generations.

Transcript Kevin Greene: And even though we have more data at our fingertips thanwe did just five years ago, much less 20 years ago, you need someone to helpyou navigate through that because things have changed so much that you're like,"How do I interpret all of this data?" And having that propertyprofessional be able to help and hold their hand through that is a key part andyou want a trusted partner. So trust is huge. Maiclaire Bolton Smith: Welcome to Beyond the Buildings by Cotality.

Overview For thousands of families, flood risk can be the precursor to significant financial challenges, but knowing risk ahead of time can provide the signal a homeowner needs for faster recovery. For servicers, floodwaters bring a shift in strategy. Seeing both the risk and resilience begins with a single message; that message arrived on June 10, 2026. FEMA redrew flood map boundaries for the United States this summer, and for many, those boundaries are redefining homeownership.

Transcript: Amy Gromowski: I'll focus a little bit on the actual data that Cotality has that we can look at that really points to and help us understand the critical geospatial layers, which is existing power infrastructure, available and suitable land, and then that proximity to an economic hub from the housing market perspective and just access. So I'll bring it just to that level of what does that mean? How do we do that? Maiclaire Bolton Smith: Welcome to Beyond the Buildings by Cotality.

In 2020, home prices appreciated 10%. In 2021, they jumped another 18%. Since then, home prices have only increased an additional 18%. “People don’t buy houses regularly, so luck is a big part of the equation,” said Cotality Principal Economist Thom Malone. “The same pattern holds for buyers who purchased around the Great Recession.

Overview: National home price growth remained modest in July, rising 1.4% year over year. The Midwest and Northeast continued to lead appreciation, topped by Connecticut and Illinois (both 6.8%), Indiana (5.3%), New Jersey (5.0%), and Nebraska (4.9%).