Some homebuyers are having to get creative when it comes to buying a new home, a recent survey from U.S. News & World Report shows.
The report revealed that more than half of homebuyers surveyed (57%) are taking on additional work or a side hustle to deal with higher housing payments, and that 37% of homebuyers are planning to purchase a home with someone other than a spouse or partner—such as a friend, a sibling, or a parent—to split the cost.
U.S. News’ survey found that 11% say most of their down payment is coming from parents or family, and about one in nine homebuyers is turning to the “bank of mom and dad” for help with their mortgages. Between April 20 and 24, U.S. News ran a nationwide survey of 1,207 Americans planning to buy a home this year using a mortgage.
The survey said that about two thirds of homebuyers (62%) are waiting for rates to fall before buying a home in 2026. That percentage is much lower than in last year’s survey, when 80% of respondents said the same. That suggests that consumers are finally becoming accustomed to rates above 6%, five years after the ultralow rates of the COVID-19 pandemic era.
“The thing that jumped out to me was, we always ask, ‘Are you waiting for mortgage rates to fall before buying a home?’” said Erika Giovanetti, Consumer Lending Analyst for U.S. News. “The first two years we ran it, we had about two-thirds, 66%, 67%, and in 2025, 80% of people were waiting for rates to fall.”
She added, “This year, it’s come back down even lower. Sixty-two percent of homebuyers are waiting for rates to fall. Broadly, the biggest take-away here is that people are just getting comfortable with the 6% rates.”
Thinking Outside the Box
Giovanetti talked about some of the creative and nontraditional approaches homebuyers are taking.
“The creative ways that we’re looking at for people who are buying a home with a mortgage have to do with the sacrifices they’re giving up,” she said. “Thirty-seven percent are buying a home with a non-spouse. Whether it’s a friend, a sibling, a parent, or a child, it’s not something that we’ve asked in years past. It’s a significant number, if you’re looking at it overall. Fifteen percent said they were considering buying house with a friend, and that’s what I would consider more nontraditional. This rise in co-buying speaks a lot to the market.”
Here are some other takeaways from the survey:
The same amount (62%) say they put off buying a home in 2025 because they were waiting for lower rates. In last year’s survey, three-quarters of respondents (76%) said they put off buying a home in 2024. Again, this result implies that fewer buyers are waiting on the sidelines for rates to fall.
Fifteen percent of respondents plan to purchase a home with a friend to split the cost. Additionally, 12% are buying with a parent, and 9% are bunking with a sibling. All told, more than a third (37%) are planning to purchase with someone other than a spouse or partner.
If you’re co-buying a home, Giovannetti has a recommendation.
Consult a Real Estate Lawyer
“I would recommend that people who are considering co-buying a house do so with the help of a real estate lawyer, not just a lender. There might be other reasons why people might want to get a real estate lawyer at other points, but this is one of those times where you want to make sure that everything is written down in the contract in a way that is fair for all the parties and that everyone understands.”
She explained that it’s important because of the deed.
“You’re on the deed, and if the friend stops making payments, then you’re on the hook for all of it. So just making sure to speak with a real estate lawyer as well as the lender, if you’re going to have some sort of arrangement, like, ‘He’ll just pay me rent, as opposed to actually both being on the loan and actually both being on the deed.’”
Getting help from a parent or friend with a down payment is becoming more common.
“I think the number of people who are getting help from their parents for the down payment may not be surprising,” Giovanetti said. “I think it really speaks to the situation that a lot of people are in. Eleven percent said that they were getting help from parents or family for their down payment.”
Many homebuyers (57%) are taking on additional work or a side hustle specifically to qualify for a larger mortgage or cover a higher monthly payment.
More than half of homebuyers (52%) are tapping their personal savings to cover their down payment, but a significant cohort is leaning on their village for help. One in nine respondents (11%) reported that the majority of their down payment comes from parents or family members. Additionally, a fifth of baby boomers (20%) report tapping into retirement funds to buy a home.
More than a fifth (22%) are moving out of state. Among them, respondents are most commonly leaving New York (15%), California (11%), and Texas (7%), while most commonly moving to Florida (13%), New York (11%), and California (6%). If they could move to any state, homebuyers most commonly listed Florida (14%), California (11%), and Hawaii (7%) as their preferred destinations.
When U.S. News first started running this survey in 2023, 66% of buyers were waiting for mortgage rates to drop before home shopping, and in 2024, 67% said the same. In a surprising jump in 2025, 80% of homebuyers were holding out for lower rates—and 76% put off buying a home the year prior because they were waiting for rates to fall.
This year’s homebuyers were less motivated by lower rates. Just 62% are waiting for rates to drop before buying, and the same number (62%) put off buying a home in the past year because they were waiting for rates to fall. Among them, 41% regret putting off their home purchase.
Many homebuyers are willing to be patient and wait for the right rate.
Willing to Wait
While 38% aim to buy a house within three to six months, regardless of interest rates, half (50%) said they are willing to wait more than six months for rates to fall before buying a home. Also, two-thirds (68%) said they plan to refinance at a lower rate in the future. That’s down from last year’s survey, when 73% were planning to take the “buy now, refi later” route.
What did the survey reveal about people moving to states?
“What we found is something that is not entirely surprising to me, just given the migration trends, is that Florida has the most positive net migration. You have people who are buying a home this year.
“They’re moving away from Florida far less, and they’re moving to Florida far more,” Giovanetti said. “It makes sense why California and New York have both high negative net migration and positive net migration, just because of the size by population. Of course, they’re going to have more people moving there and moving away,” she said.
“On balance, people are more likely to be moving to Florida than away from Florida based on the population size. Florida continues to be somewhere where people are moving despite high home insurance costs,” Giovanetti noted.
