June 2026 existing-home sales
Existing home sales continued to climb from a year ago in June (2.8%) despite slipping 1.9% from May’s elevated rate, which was revised up to 4.19M. In the just-updated Realtor.com Housing Forecast for 2026, we anticipate 4.10 million home sales for the calendar year, which would require roughly a 4.15 million average pace across the rest of the year. Although mortgage rates remain higher than they were in February in response to conflict-induced inflation and uncertainty, they are also lower than they were one year ago. This helps explain the modest monthly slip and gains from the prior year.
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Pending home sales have been consistently if modestly positive, notching a 4th consecutive monthly gain (3.8%) and 2nd straight annual gain (4.8%) in May. Whereas last month seasonal factors provided a boost to the adjusted data, this month they were a drag–the non-seasonally adjusted year-over-year gains were 7.9%. In both cases due to shifts in the number of working days in 2026 versus 2025.
Months supply remained in the balanced market range, as expected, registering slightly higher than in May at 4.6 months in June, tying last year’s pace. The modest (0.6%) slip in inventory to 1.56 million homes was smaller than the slip in sales, which helped this market balance measure edge up from 4.5 months in May. Active listings growth slowed, but continued to be positive in June according to Realtor.com data. Furthermore, delistings, the phenomenon of sellers taking a home off of the market without a sale, which is a sign of seller frustration with the market, were down 10% from a year ago. Seller expectations appear to be better aligned with buyers so far in 2026.
In May, NAR reported that 35% of sales were to first-time homebuyers, up from 33% in April and just 30% one year prior. In June, data revealed that 33% of sales went to this cohort, which still indicates an uptick from June 2025 (30%). This is a surprising yet welcome improvement in a market that has been particularly challenging to entry-level buyers who don’t have equity to lean on for a down payment, and may help explain some of the resilience of the U.S. homeownership rate, which held at 65.3% in the first quarter.
Home Prices Rose Modestly
Home sales prices rose in June to $440,600 up from both the upwardly revised prior month and prior year (1.8%) to what is likely to be their seasonal peak. The growth rate matched the upwardly revised pace from last month, and all four regions registered gains, with sales prices in the Northeast (+3.9%) and Midwest (+2.7%) up the most and prices in the South and West (+0.9% each) up by slightly less. The typical U.S. asking price has been softer in 2026 according to Realtor.com data, notching a sixth consecutive month of decline in June.
