As we head into a new year, it’s natural to ask the same questions real estate photographers have been asking for the past few years.
- Is the market finally coming back?
- Is this the new normal?
- And what does it all mean for my business?
The short answer: the market is stabilizing. It is not booming, and it is not collapsing. That stability brings both challenges and opportunity. Understanding what is actually happening beneath the headlines is the first step to positioning your business for a strong 2026.
Let’s break down the biggest housing market trends from 2025 and what they signal for real estate photographers moving forward.
The Big Picture: A Market That’s Normalizing
After several years of extreme highs and lows, the housing market has started to settle into something more predictable.
Inventory is slowly increasing. Prices are stabilizing. Buyers are returning, but cautiously. This is not the frenzy of 2021, but it is also no longer the slowdown many markets experienced in 2023 and early 2024.
For photographers, this matters because every listing you shoot exists within this ecosystem. Market conditions directly influence how agents behave, how listings are marketed, and how media is used.
The defining theme of 2025 was slow, steady normalization.
Inventory Is Improving, But Scarcity Remains
One of the clearest shifts in 2025 was inventory.
In the United States, more homes came on the market compared to the prior two years. Many photographers felt this firsthand through more agent outreach, more consistent shoots, and early signs of renewed momentum.
At the same time, expectations need to stay grounded. Inventory is still down roughly 18.2% compared to pre-pandemic levels. We are not back to an oversupplied market.
Scarcity continues to define the landscape. When agents do not have many listings to work with, every listing has to perform. Presentation matters more, not less.
Buyers Are Returning, But Moving More Carefully
On the demand side, buyers are slowly re-entering the market.
Pending listings increased compared to 2023 and 2024, which means more homes are going under contract. Mortgage rates hovering in the six to seven percent range have kept affordability tight, and home prices have not dropped meaningfully in most markets.
As a result, buyers are more selective.
They spend more time online.
They scroll longer.
They tour fewer homes before making decisions.
This shift in behavior changes how listings are evaluated. Buyers are doing more filtering digitally before ever scheduling a showing.
Homes Are Still Selling Relatively Quickly, With an Important Catch
Even with the market cooling, homes are still selling faster than they did before the pandemic.
In September 2025, the average home went pending in about 27 days. Historically, anything under 30 days has been considered a seller’s or near-neutral market.
However, when you look deeper, a more important pattern emerges.
Homes that are well-priced and well-marketed often go pending within the first 30 days. Homes that miss that early window can sit on the market for two months or longer.
Early momentum matters more than ever. Listings do not usually fail slowly. They fail early.
What This Means for Real Estate Photographers
This version of the market rewards execution, not waiting.
We are not seeing business growth driven by massive market tailwinds. Instead, the businesses performing best are the ones that stay consistent, focus on fundamentals, and position their services as essential to helping listings succeed early.
Agents can no longer rely on speed alone to sell homes. Presentation has become a competitive tool. While no single photo or video can fix a pricing issue, strong media plays a meaningful role in helping the right listings gain traction quickly.
The opportunity in a tight market is not scrambling for more work. It is doing smarter, higher-impact work.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we move into the new year, the outlook is clearer than it has been in a while.
The market is more stable than the last few years.
It is still competitive.
It is still defined by scarcity rather than oversupply.
For real estate photographers, this environment favors those who understand the context they are operating in. Knowing why agents feel pressure, how buyers behave, and where listings succeed or stall leads to better decisions about how you position your services.
As an important reminder, remember that real estate is local. The market summary and direction in this post is nationwide data, and your local market may look different. I encourage you to seek out the data for your area in order to have the most complete picture to inform your business and be able to best serve your clients.
The housing market may not hand you growth on its own, but it continues to reward professionals who stay informed, adapt to change, and align their work with how listings actually perform today.