During the early weeks and months of the Covid pandemic, the new homebuyer’s journey was transformed in unimaginable ways.

What had been a cumbersome, delay-ridden, and often opaque process suddenly became streamlined, faster, more satisfying, touchless, and free of much of its friction. Builders, alongside their technology and data partners, made quantum leaps forward, revolutionizing homebuyers' customer experience.

It’s a moment that stands as a stark reminder: The homebuilding industry is capable of rapid, meaningful change when the pressure is on.

Fast forward to today.

We are once again at a critical juncture. Homebuilders face an eerily similar moment of opportunity with equally high stakes. Technologies and data analytics tools, already widely used across consumer products and services, have – conspicuously – yet to be utilized in homebuilding. The Federal Reserve’s recent policy shift, signaling an eventual decrease in borrowing costs, has only deepened the deferral mindset of would-be buyers. Many potential homeowners are hitting the pause button, waiting for a better moment to enter the market.

As this "suspended animation" sets in, the question is clear: Will builders seize the opportunity to evolve their customer-finding, engagement, and conversion strategies, or will they fall behind, losing crucial sales momentum?

In my recent interview with Ed Carey, founder and CEO of audience town, we explored the concept of “missed opportunities” among homebuilders — mainly how relying on gut instincts rather than embracing data-driven marketing leaves them vulnerable to the shifting tides of consumer behavior.

Builders Rely On Their Guts; Data Tells a Different Story

Historically, many homebuilders have relied on intuition to develop products, marketing strategies, and sales messaging. This gut-first approach, while effective during previous housing cycles, no longer holds up in a landscape where the modern homebuyer has more control and access to information than ever before.

As Carey notes,

A missed opportunity for builders is that their marketing teams have the best tools, but they’re probably not leveraging them enough.”

In many industries, marketers have long embraced data, AI, and technology to better understand customers and drive sales. Homebuilding, however, lags behind. Builders, Carey argues, are still relying on horizontal tools—like Google Analytics—that, while useful, are not tailored to the specifics of selling homes.

Carey points out a critical gap:

Most of the data available to homebuilders isn’t built for homebuyers; it’s built for land development or product development.”

This disconnect leaves builders missing key insights into what motivates potential buyers, where they are coming from, and, most importantly, why they’re making purchasing decisions. Relying on gut instinct alone in this environment is a high-risk strategy, especially when technology-driven insights could paint a clearer picture of who will buy, when, and why.

The Deferral Mindset and Changing Buyer Behavior

The current market dynamics have exacerbated this gap. As the Federal Reserve signaled a possible lowering of rates, many would-be buyers have adopted a “wait-and-see” approach, leading to a slowdown in new home sales. In this environment, it’s not enough for builders to push out the same marketing messages and wait for buyers to return. Instead, builders must dive deeper into understanding what motivates buyers to act now rather than later.

Carey emphasizes that the traditional homebuyer is no longer just someone moving down the street.

We have a high number of people right now moving all over the country for their remote jobs. So how do you target those people moving from a city to the country or two time zones away?”

This is where technology and data can provide the answers. The days of simply relying on geography to define buyer behavior are gone. Builders need to know who their buyers are—not just demographically, but psychologically.

Marketing waste is a big blind spot,” Carey says, highlighting how many builders are still not optimizing their marketing spend.

This waste comes from not knowing who the buyers are or what works to engage them. Builders default to lead generation tactics, hoping more leads will translate into more sales. But without precision targeting and data-backed insights, that strategy only increases inefficiency.

Evolve or Fall Behind: Data-Driven Solutions for Builders

The good news? Builders are in a prime position to catch up — and even leap ahead of other industries in their use of marketing technology. Carey believes that this moment offers a “tabula rasa” for homebuilders to embrace new technologies and create more efficient, effective marketing strategies. The tools are there, but the mindset shift is crucial.

Homebuilders need to start by auditing their current practices. Carey suggests asking fundamental questions:

What do you know today about your customer? Do you know them in hindsight? What foresight or predictions can you make about your next set of customers?”

Only by understanding their buyers deeply can builders begin to close the gap between missed opportunities and realized potential.

Additionally, builders must reassess the tools they are using. Are they vertical tools built specifically for homebuilders, or are they generic solutions not tailored to the industry’s unique challenges? Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Carey underscores the need to empower marketing teams:

Your marketing team is your land development team. It’s becoming the biggest source of information for your product.”

Marketing teams need the budget, technology, and training to become central drivers of decision-making in a builder’s organization.

The Leadership Imperative: Data-Powered People

This moment requires a leadership mindset shift. Homebuilding leaders must stop viewing marketing as a secondary function and start seeing it as a core part of their business strategy. Marketing teams are the true customer experts within their organizations, Carey argues, and need to be recognized as such. Builders who continue to rely on gut feelings, or who only invest in lead generation, are missing out on the real opportunities that come from understanding and engaging today’s buyer.

The consumer is in control,” Carey states.

This reality has been true for years across many industries, but homebuilding has been slow to adapt. The window of opportunity is still open, but it is shrinking. The combination of shifting buyer behavior, rising uncertainty, and technological advancement creates a perfect storm. Builders who embrace data-driven solutions now will be better positioned to thrive in the months and years ahead.

In the end, Carey’s message is clear: homebuilders must move from intuition-based decision-making to a more strategic, data-powered approach. The future of new home sales will be won by those who invest in understanding their customers, leveraging the latest tools and technologies, and aligning their organizations around a customer-first strategy. As Carey says,

When you know your customer, you sell more homes.”

The time to evolve is now.