For the first time since 2023, most Americans think it’s a better idea to buy a home than rent or move in with relatives.

Fifty-three percent of respondents surveyed by Bank of America said it was better to buy a home now, up from 48% last year and 47% in 2024. Other measures of attitudes toward homeownership, such as the percentage of respondents who say a home is a valuable investment and provides stability, also improved.

The finding underscores how perceptions of homeownership are changing as housing becomes slightly more affordable. While it’s still far more difficult to afford a home now than it was pre-pandemic, home price appreciation in much of the country has dropped below inflation and wage growth, and mortgage rates are slightly lower now than during the past three summers.

As of May, the median home in the US was listed for $429,500, according to Realtor.com. That’s down slightly from $440,000 last year, but 34% higher than May 2019, when the median was $319,500.

Affordability remains a challenge for many buyers. Just 32% of survey respondents said they were confident they could buy a home this year, and a growing percentage cited high prices or high rates as reasons for delaying a purchase.

Read more: How to get the lowest mortgage rates right now

Mortgage rates have been hovering around 6.5% in recent weeks, and recent home sales and contract signing data suggests more buyers are coming off the sidelines than last spring. Still, Bank of America found that a majority of prospective buyers are holding out for a better entry point. Seventy-one percent of potential buyers say they expect prices and rates to fall and are waiting to buy.

They could be in for a long wait, despite a tenuous ceasefire in Iran. Mortgage rates jumped on Monday — averaging 6.66%, according to Mortgage News Daily — as formal talks between the two countries sputtered. And even if Iran and the US reach a final deal, interest rates react quickly to negative shocks but take much longer to adjust to improving conditions, mortgage experts told Yahoo Finance.

“I think this [memorandum of understanding] is going to need to hold for at least this initial 60 days, and then proceed on longer for it to really start having a positive effect on mortgage rates,” said Chris Padley, a mortgage sales manager at Gateway Mortgage in Jenks, Okla.

Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.

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