3 Buyer Objections, Answered with Data You Can Use Today

This isn’t the season many were hoping for. Rates are back up. The economy feels uneasy. Caution is the default mood.

“We’re seeing a recovery that got cut short this year,” says Zillow Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy. “Housing affordability is improving on many fronts, but activity remains low. The culprit is income isn’t keeping up with the overall cost of living.”

Buyers have legitimate reasons for concern in a season where rates aren’t easing and macroeconomic conditions can cause anxiety. But there are bright spots for those who need to buy or are still considering it. Viewing through the lens of YoY data can help tell that story. Let’s look at how to work through a few objections.

Objection: "I can’t save the down payment."

Stat: Years-to-save 20% is at 8.5, the lowest since spring 2021.

For years, the down payment was a moving target — housing costs climbed faster than buyers could save. Then prices stopped climbing.

Zillow economists track how long it takes to save a 20% down payment on the typical home if a household sets aside 10% of its income per year. That metric just dropped to its lowest point since early in the pandemic.

Try: Some renters count themselves out too early, so run the numbers with them. Nearly half of first-time buyers put down less than 20%, most conventional loans allow as little as 3%, and down payment assistance is available on many Zillow listings.

Objection: “Buying costs more now.” 

Stat: With a 20% down payment, 35.2% of U.S. homes are affordable to a median-income household, the highest since mid-2022.

While in many cases this objection may be true relative to just a few years ago, affordability has been improving since 2024. The share of homes a median earner could afford was up roughly 4 percentage points YoY in May. Zillow data shows that the share of homes affordable to the median income improved in 49 of the top 50 metros. (Virginia Beach was the sole outlier, down only 0.8 percentage points.)

Try: This is almost always a buyer measuring today against pre-pandemic, or the spring they started looking. On a one-year basis, the comparison shows improvement in every metro but one.

Objection: "Nothing to buy — I'll wait."

Stats: Inventory in May was up 1% YoY, and up roughly 23% since 2024.

Buyers have spent 30 months gaining more to choose from, but that tailwind may finally be running out of steam. 

"Inventory is still climbing, but the weekly numbers point to it leveling off within about a month," says Divounguy. "If options for your buyers peak in June, that's early, and it could mean a thinner selection heading into the back half of the year."

For context, inventory peaked in August last year, October in 2024, and November in 2023.

Try: If supply peaks in June, waiting could mean fewer options. Help them get set up with BuyAbility, then pull up active listings that fit their criteria today and show them how to set up an alert for new properties.