SKN | Homebuyers Stretch Budgets as Housing Priorities Shift Under Affordability Pressure

A ServiceLink survey found that 77% of recent U.S. homebuyers spent more than they originally planned on their current homes, although exceeding an initial budget does not necessarily mean a buyer purchased a home they could not afford.

Buyers also adjusted property priorities, with 21% accepting fewer bedrooms and another 21% accepting smaller yards than they originally wanted.

Financing and location compromises were also common, with 29% making larger-than-planned down payments, 29% accepting higher mortgage rates, and 28% taking on larger mortgages.

The Public Assumption

Homebuying is often framed as a search for a property that meets a predefined combination of price, location, size, and features. The survey suggests that many buyers ultimately treat those preferences as negotiable once they encounter the realities of the housing market.

ServiceLink’s 2026 State of Homebuying Report found that 77% of respondents spent more than they had originally planned on their current homes. At the same time, some buyers accepted fewer bedrooms, smaller yards, different neighborhoods, or different school districts.

The findings come from a national survey of 1,554 U.S. adults who had purchased a home within the previous two years. Responses were collected from November 17 through December 8, 2025, meaning the results describe recent buyers nationally rather than conditions specific to Florida or another individual market.

The Economic Breakdown

The compromises were not limited to the purchase price.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they made a larger down payment than they wanted, while another 29% accepted a higher mortgage interest rate than they preferred. Twenty-eight percent reported taking on a larger mortgage than originally planned.

Those decisions can affect the long-term cost of ownership differently. A larger down payment can increase the amount of cash committed at closing while reducing the amount financed. A higher interest rate or larger mortgage, by contrast, can increase ongoing borrowing costs.

Property characteristics were also negotiable. Twenty-one percent purchased homes with fewer bedrooms than desired, and the same percentage accepted smaller yards. Fifteen percent bought in neighborhoods they had not originally wanted, while another 15% purchased in school districts they had not preferred.

The degree of budget flexibility varied by generation. Among surveyed baby boomers, 53% said they stayed within their original budgets. Millennials and Generation X were the groups most likely to report spending at least $80,000 more than initially planned.

The Hidden Picture

The distinction between exceeding a budget and becoming financially overextended is important. The survey measured whether buyers spent more than their original plans, not whether their final purchases exceeded what they could actually afford.

That means the 77% figure should not be interpreted as evidence that most buyers were financially distressed or made unaffordable purchases.

Instead, the results show how buyers changed the relative importance of price and property features during the purchasing process.

The survey also found that 34% of respondents wanted more education from their real estate agent and lender. That points to another part of the homebuying decision: buyers may need to understand the financial consequences of changing one variable before sacrificing another.

For example, accepting a smaller yard may change the property itself without necessarily changing financing costs, while accepting a higher mortgage rate directly affects the cost of borrowing. A larger down payment may alter both cash requirements and the amount financed.

The survey does not establish why individual buyers made each compromise, nor does it provide market-specific information about prices, mortgage rates, inventory, or affordability.

Closing

If most recent buyers changed either their original budgets or their preferred home features, the more useful question may be which compromises reduce the cost of ownership—and which simply move more of the housing cost into the buyer’s mortgage or long-term budget.