Housing execs still cautious: insights from our 2026 Summit

John Burns Research and Consulting's 2026 Executive Housing Summit gathered 150 housing industry executives (27% private equity, 18% banks/lenders, 10% land developers, and others) in Laguna Beach to discuss market conditions and strategic positioning. The summit's eight key takeaways indicated housing executives maintain cautious outlooks with split sentiment through 2029, entitled land development has become the top risk-adjusted investment, equity raising has slowed while debt and land banking gain market share, entry-level buyers face affordability pressures while affluent segments show strong demand, rental policy tailwinds exist alongside technology scaling opportunities, and artificial intelligence requires multiyear data cleanup efforts before strategic adoption.