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.
Latest reading
As of May 2026, Existing Home Sales (Existing home sales (SAAR)) stands at 4.17M — up from 4.02M 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. Series history runs from 2024 to present.
Existing home sales (SAAR)
Next release: Jun 09, 2026
Full history
How to read it
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.
Methodology & data
Existing Home Sales is sourced from NAR via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (National Association of Realtors via FRED (EXHOSLUSM495S), 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 2026-06-09. See our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
- Category
- Housing
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Source
- NAR
Related indicators
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.
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.
Where does the Existing Home Sales data come from?
National Association of Realtors via FRED (EXHOSLUSM495S), 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.