Financial News: U.S. Existing Home Sales Surge Much More Than

U.S. Existing Home Sales Surge Much More Than Expected In May

06/09/2026 - 10:36:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday showed existing home sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than anticipated in the month of May.

NAR said existing home sales surged by 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.17 million in May after climbing by 0.8 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.04 million in April.

Economists had expected existing home sales to jump by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.08 million from the 4.02 million originally reported for the previous month.

"More Americans are on the move, with home sales rising to the highest level since December," said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. "This is great news for the housing market and the economy."

"Improving affordability is helping drive this momentum," he added. "Even with mortgage rates ticking up compared to earlier in the year, they remain lower than a year ago and are essentially at the long-term historical average. Income gains are also outpacing home price growth by a small margin in most parts of the country."

The report also said housing inventory at the end of May totaled 1.55 million units, up 3.3 percent from 1.50 million in April and up 0.6 percent from 1.54 million units a year ago.

The unsold inventory represents 4.5 months of supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from the previous month but down from 4.6 months in the same month last year.

NAR also said the median existing home price was $429,300, up 2.8 percent from $417,500 in April and up 1.3 percent from $423,700 a year ago.

"The new record-high May home price reflects solid fundamentals for homeowners and ongoing supply constraints," Yun said. "Only 1% of all home sales involved a foreclosure or an underwater situation in which the sale price could not cover the outstanding mortgage balance. This shows that homeowners are on solid financial footing."

"Increased home sales mean more economic activity - lawn care, furniture purchases, moving services, mortgage originations and other related business activities all get a boost," he added.

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