May sales were mostly for contracts signed in March and April, and mortgage rates averaged 6.18% in March and 6.33% in April (Higher than for closed sales in April).
The NAR is now reporting earlier in the month than in previous years. Existing home sales for May are scheduled to be released tomorrow, June 9th. The consensus is for 4.08 million SAAR, up from 4.02 million in April.
Closed Sales in May
In May, sales in these early reporting markets were up 0.1% YoY. Last month, in April, these same markets were up 1.8% year-over-year Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA).
Important: There was one fewer working days in May 2026 (20) as in May 2025 (21). So, the year-over-year change in the headline SA data will be greater than the change in NSA data (there are other seasonal factors).
Notes for all tables:
New additions to table in BOLD.
Northwest (Seattle)
Comparison to 2019 ONLY includes local markets with available 2019 data!
For the previous month, there were the same number of working days in April 2026 (22) as in April 2025 (22). So, the YoY change in the headline SA data was about the same in the NAR report as the NSA data.
Sales in all of these markets are down sharply compared to May 2019.
This graph shows existing home sales by month for 2025 and 2026, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis. Last year, the NAR reported sales in May 2025 were at 4.04 million SAAR.
This early data suggests that May existing sales (as reported seasonally adjusted by the NAR) will likely be up year-over-year - and probably above the consensus forecast (although this is based on very limited data released so far).
New Listings in May
For these areas, new listings were down 9.2% year-over-year.
Last month, new listings in these markets were up 3.3% year-over-year.
New listings in these markets are down compared to May 2019.
Active Inventory in May
Inventory was up 4.8% year-over-year. Last month inventory in these markets was up 9.4% YoY.
Comparing to May 2019, inventory is up in most of these markets (down in San Diego).
This was just a few early reporting markets. Many more local markets to come!