{"id":4081,"date":"2026-06-10T16:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4081"},"modified":"2026-06-10T16:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T16:01:23","slug":"us-existing-home-sales-jump-to-highest-level-since-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=4081","title":{"rendered":"US existing-home sales jump to highest level since December"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

A for sale sign is seen in front of a house in a Spring Branch neighborhood in Houston, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (Kirk Sides\/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>

Read more Bill Gates testifies before congressional panel investigating Epstein<\/a><\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/div>

Sales of existing U.S. homes surged last month, reaching their highest level since December and marking a strong rebound in demand after a sluggish start to the spring homebuying season.<\/p>

By the numbers:<\/p>

Existing home sales rose 3.2% in May from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Sales also rose 3.2% compared with May last year.<\/p>

<\/div>

Home sales increased from a year earlier in the Midwest, South and West, but fell in the Northeast, NAR said.<\/p>

The latest sales figure topped the roughly 4.07 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.<\/p>

RELATED: <\/strong>Mortgage rates are moving again: What homebuyers need to know<\/strong><\/p>

Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million.<\/p>

Sales rose last month even as mortgage rates have continued to mostly trend higher this spring, although they remain below where they were a year ago.<\/p>

Home prices continued to rise nationally last month. The U.S. median sales price increased 1.3% in May from a year earlier to $429,300, an all-time high for any May on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 35 months in a row.<\/p>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

Even so, home price growth is now lagging income growth in many areas. That, plus mortgage rates holding below where they were this time last year, is helping to improve affordability, giving the housing market momentum, said Lawrence Yun, NAR\u2019s chief economist.<\/p>

“I cannot definitively say if home sales are truly coming out of the slump, because we know that there\u2019s still uncertainty related to the oil prices or how the mortgage rates will move,” Yun said, adding that he expects home sales will emerge from their multi-year slump if the average rate on a 30-year mortgage drops back closer to 6%.<\/p>

RELATED: <\/strong>These are the 50 fastest-growing neighborhoods in the US, according to data<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Rise in gas prices from Iran war could have helped inflation hit a 3-year high<\/a><\/p>