Existing home sales in the United States surged 3.2% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units, marking the fastest pace since December, the National Association of Realtors reported. The jump defied expectations that elevated mortgage rates would continue to dampen buyer activity.
The latest sales figure topped the roughly 4.07 million pace economists had forecast. Sales also rose 3.2% compared with May a year earlier, signaling renewed momentum after a lackluster start to the spring homebuying season.
The median sales price climbed to $429,300, an all-time high for any May in data going back to 1999. Home prices have now risen on an annual basis for 35 consecutive months, even as the housing market has struggled since 2022 when mortgage rates began climbing from pandemic-era lows.
Homes purchased in May likely went under contract in March and April, when the average 30-year mortgage rate ranged from 6% — close to its lowest level in three and a half years — to 6.46%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The average rate stood at 6.48% last week, down from 6.85% a year earlier.
Despite the uncertainty over mortgage rates, first-time buyers accounted for 35% of home purchases last month, the highest share since June 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors. Historically, they have made up 40% of home sales.
Those who can afford to buy at current rates had more homes on the market to choose from. There were 1.55 million unsold homes at the end of May, up 3.3% from April and up 0.6% from May a year earlier. That translates to a 4.5-month supply at the current sales pace, still short of the roughly 5- to 6-month supply considered balanced between buyers and sellers.
The housing market has been in a slump since 2022, with sales of previously occupied homes stuck at a 30-year low last year. Years of soaring home prices, especially in the early part of this decade when rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a buying frenzy, have left many would-be homebuyers frozen out of the market. A chronic shortage of homes for sale nationally, due partly to years of below-average new home construction, has helped prop up home prices even amid the multiyear sales slump.
Home sales increased from a year earlier in the Midwest, South, and West, but fell in the Northeast, the National Association of Realtors said.
Sources
- ABC News — May 2026 existing home sales data, mortgage rates, first-time buyer share, inventory levels
- National Association of Realtors — Official May 2026 existing-home sales report with median price, inventory, and regional breakdown
- Freddie Mac — 30-year mortgage rate data for March-April 2026
