Existing Home Sales
Existing home sales track the annualized pace of closings on previously owned single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops — roughly 85-90% of all US home sales. Compiled by the National Association of Realtors from MLS data and reported in millions at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, it is the broadest read on housing demand. NAR licenses live distributors only a rolling 13-month window, so our 1999+ history is reconstructed from archived vintages of NAR's own monthly releases and FRED's pre-restriction files, spliced with the live feed — values match NAR's published figures throughout (e.g. the 3.97M February 2009 cycle low).
Latest reading
As of June 2026, Existing Home Sales (Existing home sales (SAAR)) stands at 4.09M — down from 4.19M the prior reading. Above 6M annualized marks a very strong market; 4M-5M is a typical, moderate pace, and below 3.5M signals serious weakness. Because closings lag the decision to buy, pending home sales lead this series by a month or two. The data is highly mortgage-rate sensitive — the 2023 drop to 4M reflected the "lock-in effect," with low-rate owners reluctant to sell into 7%+ rates. The all-time peak was 7.26M in September 2005; the modern low, 3.45M in July 2010 after the homebuyer tax credit expired. Series history runs from 1999 to present.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-07-24 · Open ↓Close ↑
Existing home sales (SAAR)
- YoY %
- 2.8%
Next release: ≈ Aug 9, 2026
Full history
Sales (SAAR)
Year-over-year %
The annual change in existing-home sales. Shaded zones split growth (green, above 0%) from decline (red, below 0%) — the broadest, most rate-sensitive housing-demand read.
Methodology & data
Existing Home Sales is sourced from NAR via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (National Association of Realtors — live via FRED (EXHOSLUSM495S, rolling 13-month window); 1999-2024 history reconstructed from archived NAR release files and FRED vintages (see scripts/backfill-existing-home-sales.py); monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-07-24. Maintained and reviewed by Yuriy Matso; see our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Existing Home Sales?
Existing home sales track the annualized pace of closings on previously owned single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops — roughly 85-90% of all US home sales. Compiled by the National Association of Realtors from MLS data and reported in millions at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, it is the broadest read on housing demand. NAR licenses live distributors only a rolling 13-month window, so our 1999+ history is reconstructed from archived vintages of NAR's own monthly releases and FRED's pre-restriction files, spliced with the live feed — values match NAR's published figures throughout (e.g. the 3.97M February 2009 cycle low).
How do you read Existing Home Sales?
Above 6M annualized marks a very strong market; 4M-5M is a typical, moderate pace, and below 3.5M signals serious weakness. Because closings lag the decision to buy, pending home sales lead this series by a month or two. The data is highly mortgage-rate sensitive — the 2023 drop to 4M reflected the "lock-in effect," with low-rate owners reluctant to sell into 7%+ rates. The all-time peak was 7.26M in September 2005; the modern low, 3.45M in July 2010 after the homebuyer tax credit expired.
Where does the Existing Home Sales data come from?
National Association of Realtors — live via FRED (EXHOSLUSM495S, rolling 13-month window); 1999-2024 history reconstructed from archived NAR release files and FRED vintages (see scripts/backfill-existing-home-sales.py); monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/existing-home-sales.csv.
How often is Existing Home Sales updated?
Existing Home Sales is a monthly series from NAR, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.
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