What Renters Say vs. What Renters Do: Zillow's 2027 Report Meets Our Q3 Leasing Data

Zillow's 2027 Consumer Housing Trends Report surveyed 53,700 renters between March and July 2026. They wanted to find out about who they are, what they want and how they search. The report shows one of the clearest views of renter preferences the industry gets each year.

A survey tells you what renters say they want while leasing data shows what they do. So we put Zillow's findings next to RentEngine's Q3 2026 Leasing Data & Trends Report. Our report tracks every stage of the leasing funnel across hundreds of thousands of scattered-site single-family and small multifamily properties.

Here's where the two line up, where they don't, and what to change in your leasing because of it.

1. Single-family renters rarely ask for floor plans, then walk away over room size

What Zillow found: Recent renters who chose single-family homes ranked photos well above floor plans. 61% said pictures were essential, against 38% for floor plans and 31% for 3D or virtual tours. In large apartment buildings, the order flips, and 65% said floor plans were essential.

What our Q3 data shows: After showings this summer, prospects mentioned room size more than any other complaint, and it lowered application rates more than any other complaint. Odor, smoke and mold came close behind. A prospect who arrives to find the bedrooms smaller than expected rarely applies, and that showing slot could have gone to someone who would.

So renters don’t ask for floor plans upfront, but they turn homes down over room size once they’re inside. Add a floor plan with room dimensions to every listing, so prospects who need more space can rule the home out before they book a showing.

Speed matters once the listing fits. Prospects complete about half of same-day showings. By four days out, they complete under 30%. Self-guided showings got prospects inside in a median of 2.3 hours, against 37.3 hours for accompanied showings.

One caution: the median renter is 41, up from 32 when Zillow started this survey in 2017. Keep a phone number and plain-language instructions alongside the self-serve options.

The RentEngine fix:

• Showing feedback: RentEngine asks every prospect what they thought after their showing, so you can see which complaints come up at each home and add room dimensions or fix an odor before the next showing. Prospects who left feedback went on to apply 19.9% of the time, against 13.0% for those who didn’t.

• Self-guided showings: prospects book on their own and get inside in a median of 2.3 hours, against 37.3 hours for accompanied showings.

2. Most renters shop with someone else, and most applications include more than one adult

What Zillow found: 75% of recent renters co-shopped with someone else, rising to 82% for single-family renters. Spouses and partners were the most common co-shoppers at 45%, followed by relatives and children at 17% each and roommates at 8%.

What our Q3 data shows: On RentEngine, the typical leased home received 3.33 applications from 1.85 application groups, so the average group included about 1.8 adults. Group size made the biggest difference to how long applications took. The median time from starting an application to submitting it:

Every extra hour gives the group more time to keep looking. On RentEngine Applications, the median group went from requested to submitted in 14.1 hours, against 20.0 hours on other providers. Those properties also leased two days faster.

The RentEngine fix:

• RentEngine Applications: one flow that prefills information, guides each applicant through every step, answers status and missing-document questions instantly, and follows up until the application is complete, references included. The median group submits in 14.1 hours, against 20.0 hours on other providers.

3. Pet policy is the question renters ask most

What Zillow found: 64% of renters said allowing pets was essential. Among single-family renters it rose to 71%, against 59% in buildings with 50 or more units.

What our Q3 data shows: Pet policy and fees were the most common topic in messages to RentEngine AI, at 3.7% of all messages. That put pets ahead of booking a showing and questions about property features, at 3.3% each.

When the pet policy isn't clear on the listing, renters ask. Every question is a delay before a showing gets booked, and a renter with a dog who can't find the answer may skip the listing altogether.

The RentEngine fix:

• RentEngine AI: pet policy is the question renters ask most, and RentEngine AI answers it in seconds from your listing details, at any hour, then moves the prospect on to booking a showing.

4. Price leases homes faster than concessions

What Zillow found: 59% of recent renters received at least one concession, and 60% of those said the landlord offered it upfront. Renters are also watching total cost closely. The typical security deposit rose from $795 to $975 in a year, 96% of renters said all fees should be disclosed, and 78% would prefer fees bundled into the rent.

What our Q3 data shows: This is where the two reports point in different directions. About 6% of homes went to market with a special offer. When we compared them with similar homes (same property manager, property type, bedroom count and listing month), the difference in days on market was zero. Homes that added an offer partway through still took a median of 17 days to lease afterward.

Price made the difference. Homes with no price changes leased in a median of 19 days. One reduction pushed that to 36 days, two to 49 and five to 75. And 42.1% of rented homes needed at least one reduction in Q3, up from 36.9% in Q2.

On a $1,900 rental, those 17 extra days cost the owner about $1,075. That's nearly a year of the extra $100 a month they were holding out for.

Both findings can be true. Concessions are common, and renters notice them, but a free month doesn't fix rent that's too high. Renters are judging the total cost, which is why fee transparency ranks so high in Zillow's survey.

The RentEngine fix:

• Rental comps: see what comparable homes nearby are listed for before you set the rent, from the same place you run your leasing.

• Intelligence: every listing is flagged Healthy or At-risk against our lead benchmarks, so you can spot a pricing problem in the first week, while the most prospects are still arriving.

5. Renters search with AI

What Zillow found: For the first time, Zillow asked renters about AI. Among recent renters who used it, 78% used it during at least one part of their search, and 56% relied on it for home recommendations. 45% used it for answers about their lease and 44% for market insights. In large multifamily, 37% of renters who used AI had it negotiate on their behalf, against 8% in single-family.

Zillow also listed what AI needs from a listing to recommend it: pricing and fees, availability, amenities and pet policies, qualification requirements, floor plans and unit details, and neighborhood information.

What our Q3 data shows: Renters reach out on their own schedule. 57.8% of prospects inquired outside business hours, and the median human response time was 19 hours. Teams using AI answered in 6 seconds.

RentEngine AI answered 87.1% of inbound messages before a showing was scheduled. Controlling for company profile, properties using RentEngine AI leased four days faster and converted 16% more leads into scheduled showings.

The questions that still needed a person sat close to the application: application status (18.1% escalated), lockbox and access problems (15.7%) and the application process (14.2%).

The RentEngine fix:

• RentEngine AI: answers texts and emails in 6 seconds, day or night. It handled 87.1% of inbound messages before a showing was booked in Q3.

• Voice AI: answers inbound calls, with a median call length of 75 seconds.

• Command Center: when AI hands a conversation over, it shows up as a task for your team, alongside every lead, message and call in one place.

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  Learn how the Command Center brings every conversation your team needs to see into one view.

6. Renters stick to one home type

What Zillow found: Once renters pick a home type, they rarely switch. 89% of renters looking for a single-family home rented one, and 81% of those looking at large multifamily did the same.

What our Q3 data shows: Showing a lead more than one home makes them far more likely to apply. A lead interested in one property applied 4.3% of the time. Show them a second option and that rose to 7.8%, and by five properties it reached 16.4%.

Cross-selling also punched above its weight as a lead source. It generated 8.5% of leads but 11.5% of submitted applications. And on calls answered by Voice AI, 21.3% of callers asked about other available homes.

Put those together and the playbook is simple. When a home is taken or doesn't fit, the renter is still looking for the same kind of home. Offer them the closest match in your portfolio.

The RentEngine fix:

• Cross-selling: puts your other available homes in front of active leads. In Q3, cross-selling brought in 8.5% of leads but 11.5% of submitted applications.

Putting it into practice with RentEngine

Both reports describe renters who decide earlier, with more information and often with someone else. That puts more of the work on three moments: the listing, the first reply and the application.

RentEngine covers all three in one system, from lead to approved application. AI answers every prospect in seconds, showings book themselves, Applications keeps the whole household moving, and Intelligence tells you which listings need attention before days on market slips.