April has seen the announcement of new statistics and changes coming to the world of renting and homeownership, especially in large cities. Explore these changes and learn about the demographics purchasing houses, home value forecasts, commercial locations becoming residential homes, and awards offered to Rentec Direct for its green workplace practices in this industry outlook.
April of 2026 has seen some interesting information and changes regarding the cooling rental market and shifting real estate industry landscape. Although home buying is still down, this month has seen efforts to create more housing out of previously unused commercial real estate, highlighting an interest in creating more living space in large cities. Rent increases are small, but present, and the landscape of young people purchasing homes is gradually shifting.
Baby boomers are the largest group of home buyers, unchanged from last year, but first-time home buyers are becoming less common. Additionally, Zillow forecasts that homes will have very little value increase over the course of the year, and office buildings in some major cities are being turned into residential units. Finally, Rentec Direct has been named one of Oregon’s best green workplaces by Oregon Business Magazine.
Follow and learn more about these changes with this month’s industry outlook.
Baby Boomers Continue to be the Largest Group of Home Buyers, but First-Time Buying Reached a Record Low
According to this National Association of Realtors article, the younger generations continue to struggle to purchase homes, while baby boomers account for 42% of all home buyers in 2026. This year, the report also states that just 21% of all home buyers in the United States were purchasing for the first time, with the majority of younger millennials who purchased being first-time buyers. 55% of all house sales were sold by baby boomers, and Gen Z buyers have also shown an interesting shift compared to older generations, with 35% of Gen Z buyers being single women and 17% being unmarried couples.
These shifts, according to the article, indicate that Gen Z home buyers have differing priorities from previous generations. While previous generations typically purchased homes after marriage, the article claims that Gen Z appears to prioritize this traditional order of milestones less.
Learn more: 5 Best Cities to Buy Your First House or Investment Property
Zillow’s Home Value and Sales Forecast Indicates Little Increase in Home Value
According to Zillow’s forecast as of this month, home values are only expected to increase by 0.3% by the end of 2026, an even lower amount than their estimation as of last month. Despite this, existing home sales are predicted to increase by 0.5%. However, this is a decrease from previous estimations, which placed the increase at 3.4%.
Rents are expected to increase a small amount, 1% for multifamily units and 2% for single-family homes. This is a far smaller increase than previous years, continuing to indicate the cooling rental market predicted at the beginning of the year.
Office Buildings are Becoming Residential Rental Locations
The National Apartment Association recently shared that tens of thousands of new residential units are growing out of what used to be office buildings in Chicago, a trend that appears to be spreading to other major cities across the country.
Washington, D.C., has seen similar efforts made to create more residential units. The Housing in Downtown program in D.C. has planned to put $41 million towards turning commercial units into residential homes through tax abatement. This plan is expected to result in over 8,000 new units for residential use. So far, 1,745 units are in progress across eight different projects that have been announced.
San Francisco has also implemented the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program, which waives some regulations to encourage housing development. Additionally, some transfer taxes have been waived to aid the process of converting commercial property to residential homes. Certain zoning districts have been offered various incentives to encourage these shifts, especially in the downtown and eastern waterfront areas.
Rentec Direct Recognized for Green Workplaces Award
Rentec Direct was named one of the best green workplaces in Oregon for the second consecutive year. This award came as a result of continual efforts to minimize environmental impact through solar power, energy-efficient lighting, and paperless operations. Rentec Direct also focuses on partnering with environmentally friendly vendors and providing support for alternative methods of commuting to work.
Learn more: 13 Things to Know About Investing in Eco-Friendly Properties
Final Thoughts
This month in industry news has followed the trend we are seeing of cooled markets, but industry professionals are working hard to operate under the shifting landscape of the real estate industry.
