NAR Pending Home Sales Report Shows 3.8% Increase in May
WASHINGTON (June 17, 2026) – Pending home sales in May increased by 3.8% month-over-month and 4.8% year-over-year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Pending Home Sales report. The report provides the real estate ecosystem—including agents, homebuyers and sellers—with data on the level of home sales under contract.
Month-over-month and year-over-year pending home sales rose in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West.
“A late spring buyer rush—even with mortgage rates not budging—is an indication of pent-up housing demand and consumers’ acceptance of above-6% mortgage rates as the new normal,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “The inventory-constrained Northeast region, which has seen faster home price growth but slower home sales for several months, is now showing more buyer contract signings. More supply is needed to help moderate home price growth.”
“Going forward, falling oil prices will help lower mortgage rates,” Yun said. “But declines will be modest given sizable borrowing by the federal government and strong AI investment spending by tech companies.”
May 2026 National Pending Home Sales
- 3.8% increase month-over-month
- 4.8% increase year-over-year
May 2026 Regional Pending Home Sales
Northeast
- 8.7% increase month-over-month
- 6.1% increase year-over-year
Midwest
- 8.1% increase month-over-month
- 9.3% increase year-over-year
South
- 1.0% increase month-over-month
- 3.3% increase year-over-year
West
- 0.7% increase month-over-month
- 1.2% increase year-over-year
At the local level, several markets posted notable year-over-year gains in pending home sales. Among the 50 largest metro areas, the following 10 markets posted the biggest annual increases in pending home sales, according to data from Realtor.com® Economics:
- Kansas City, MO-KS (+20.1%)
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX (+15.7%)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (+13.9%)
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL (+11.4%)
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN (+11.2%)
- Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN (+10.1%)
- Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN (+9.4%)
- Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI (+8.7%)
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC (+8.2%)
- Richmond, VA (+8.2%)
About the National Association of REALTORS®
The National Association of REALTORS® is involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes—from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation—visit facts.realtor.
# # #
*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
Pending contracts are good early indicators of upcoming sales closings. However, the amount of time between pending contracts and completed sales is not identical for all home sales. Variations in the length of the process from pending contract to closed sale can be caused by issues such as buyer difficulties with obtaining mortgage financing, home inspection problems, or appraisal issues.
The index is based on a sample that covers about 40% of multiple listing service data each month. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.
Information about NAR is available at nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom at nar.realtor/newsroom. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the “Research and Statistics” tab.
