Homebuilder sentiment ticked up a bit in May, but that’s from a pretty low baseline. Homebuilder sentiment has been negative for 14 straight months — the longest slump in more than a decade.Spring hasn’t sprung for the housing market, said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors. “The spring housing market really feels tepid, like there’s a wet blanket on it,” she said.Mortgage rates are up since the war in Iran began, with the 30-year fixed rate hovering at around 6.5%. And while home prices aren’t going up as much as a few years ago, they’re still going up. The median existing home hit an all-time high for May: $429,000. “It’s still very difficult for a homebuyer to come into the market,” Lautz said. “They have to have a household income for the typical price of a home well over $100,000.” It’s likely to remain tough, especially for first-time buyers, according to Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders.“Historically, the price-to-income ratio in the housing market should be 3-to-1. When the price-to-income ratio is close to 5-to-1, it is that much more challenging to save up the down payment to be able to qualify for a mortgage,” he said.Meanwhile, as younger first-time buyers get priced out, older repeat buyers have the advantage.Lautz added that that 25% of existing home sales are now all-cash, up from 15% before the pandemic. And a lot of those buyers are baby boomers, flush with home equity and stock market gains.From March 2026: Can Congress tackle housing affordability?From January 2026: What would it take to make housing more affordable?From August 2024: For most U.S. households, buying a home isn’t within reach