CINC Systems Releases 2026 State of the Industry Report on the Value, Capacity, and Trust Squeeze Reshaping Community Association Management

New report finds residents remain more positive about HOAs than expected, even as rising dues, manager burnout, staffing shortages, resident expectations, and AI trust concerns reshape the future of the industry.

DULUTH, Ga., June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CINC Systems, the AI-native platform for community association management, today released its 2026 State of the Industry Report, revealing a new operating reality for the industry: residents still see value in community association living, but rising costs, higher service expectations, manager burnout, staffing shortages, and AI trust concerns are increasing pressure on management companies to prove value and scale differently.

The report is being released as community association leaders gather for CAI Annual, where AI, resident engagement, manager capacity, and operational scale are shaping many of the industry's most urgent conversations.

Based on survey responses from 418 residents, HOA/COA board members, community association managers, and CAM executives, the report points to one central industry tension: community association management is becoming more complex, more visible, and more critical, while every stakeholder is asking for more clarity, more value, and less friction.

The report found that residents are more positive about community association living than many might expect, with 64% of resident respondents saying they feel somewhat or very positive about HOAs/COAs and 66% saying they would probably or definitely choose to live in one again. At the same time, residents' top concern is dues increasing faster than income, and their top priority is protecting and increasing home value. External market data reinforces that pressure: Realtor.com reported that the median HOA fee reached $135 in 2025, up from $125 in 2024 and $108 in 2019, while a LendingTree survey of 2,000 consumers found that 82% of current HOA residents said their fees increased over the past three years, including 44% who said the increase was significant.

For management companies, the findings highlight a growing capacity challenge. 71% of CAM executive respondents rated their optimism about the industry's future a 7 or higher out of 10, but 51% said they currently have open positions they are struggling to fill, and 56% rated community manager burnout a 7 or higher out of 10. Among community managers themselves, 53% rated their own burnout a 7 or higher.

"The future of community association management will be defined by the industry's ability to prove value," said Ryan Davis, CEO of CINC Systems. "Residents still see value in professionally managed communities, but they want to understand what they are paying for. Boards need better visibility to make harder decisions. Managers need relief from the repetitive work that keeps them from leading communities. And management companies need a more scalable way to grow. That is exactly why CINC is investing in a more connected, AI-native operating experience for the industry."

The report also shows strong resident appetite for digital self-service and trusted technology. 71% of resident respondents said they would likely use a secure digital assistant for community questions and tasks. However, CAM executives identified accuracy and reliability as their top concern around AI, followed by data security and privacy.

These findings reinforce CINC's strategy to bring accounting, operations, resident engagement, board governance, banking, payments, and AI-powered workflow support into one connected platform. Because Cephai operates on CINC's unified data foundation, it can support context-aware work across the platform, from communications and invoices to board packets, budgets, and operational follow-up. Through CINC Connect, CINC gives residents and boards more visibility, self-service access, and modern digital engagement. Together with single sign-on, universal navigation, and connected workflows, CINC is helping management companies operate from one connected system for community association management.

"AI cannot be a superficial feature layer in this industry," Davis added. "It has to be secure, contextual, auditable, and connected to the workflows that already power community operations. The goal is not to replace managers. The goal is to remove the unnecessary friction around them so they can spend more time advising boards, creating value, and helping communities thrive."

"The AI conversation in community management is really an architecture conversation," said Duri Chitayat, Chief Technology Officer at CINC Systems. "AI can only be as useful as the foundation it operates on. When intelligence is connected to a unified data model across financials, communications, resident information, board governance, and operations, it can understand context and improve across the platform. When AI is layered on top of disconnected workflows, it inherits those workflow constraints."

The 2026 report also includes insights from industry voices across community association management, including Melissa Ramsey, CMCA, AMS, LSM, PCAM, Owner of Mosaic Community Consulting; Tyler Hawes, CMCA, AMS, Founder & CEO of Sliceo; Adam Balkcom, Chief Executive Officer of CAM Leadership Institute; Liz Comando, PCAM, CMCA, Chief Operating Officer at Taylor Management Company, AAMC, AMO; and Manvir Heir, Founder & CEO of CAM Advisors.

Key findings from the report include:

• 64% of resident respondents feel somewhat or very positive about HOAs/COAs.
• 66% of resident respondents would probably or definitely choose to live in an HOA/COA again.
• Residents' top concern is dues increasing faster than income, while their top priority is protecting and increasing home value.
• External market data shows HOA costs are rising nationally, with Realtor.com reporting that median HOA fees reached $135 in 2025, up from $108 in 2019.
• 84% of board respondents feel somewhat or very positive about serving.
• 71% of CAM executive respondents rated their optimism about the industry's future a 7 or higher out of 10.
• 51% of CAM executive respondents said they currently have open positions they are struggling to fill.
• 56% of CAM executive respondents rated community manager burnout a 7 or higher out of 10.
• 53% of community manager respondents rated their own burnout a 7 or higher out of 10.
• 71% of resident respondents said they would likely use a secure digital assistant for community questions and tasks.

The report explores eight major themes shaping the future of the industry: the resident value equation, home value as the heart of the HOA/COA promise, boards under pressure, capacity as the industry's growth ceiling, manager sustainability, digital adoption, practical AI, and the evolving CAM business model.

Together, these themes point to a new operating reality for management companies: growth will depend on the ability to prove value, protect home value, preserve capacity, and create more trusted experiences for residents, boards, managers, and executives.

The full 2026 State of the Industry Report is available for download at https://cincsystems.com/state-of-the-industry-report-2026.

About CINC Systems

CINC Systems is the AI-native platform for community association management, trusted by more than 1,000 management companies serving 55,000+ associations and 6 million+ doors. Built on more than twenty years of integrated platform data spanning accounting, operations, resident experience, banking, and payments, CINC processed more than $25 billion in community payments in 2025. Cephai, CINC's intelligence system, is woven natively into that foundation to help management companies reduce tedious work, increase visibility, and operate with greater efficiency. CINC is backed by Hg and Spectrum Equity.

SOURCE CINC Systems