The pace of US existing home sales rose by 3.2% to a 4.17 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in May from 4.04 million in April, compared with a smaller expected increase to a 4.07 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 am ET, data from the National Association of Realtors released Tuesday showed.
Total sales were also up 3.2% from a year earlier and were the fastest pace since December 2025.
"More Americans are on the move, with home sales rising to the highest level since December," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "This is great news for the housing market and the economy. Improving affordability is helping drive this momentum."
Yun noted that mortgage rates remain below their year-ago level and that income gains are now outpacing home price gains.
Sales of single-family homes were up 3.5%, while condominium sales held steady.
Sales were up in three out of the four regions of the country but held steady in the West region. It increased in three of the four regions from a year earlier, falling only in the Northeast region.
Homes remained on the market a median of 29 days, down from 32 days in April but up from 27 days a year ago.
The supply of homes for sale increased to 1.55 million homes in May from 1.5 million in April and up 0.6% from the 1.54 million level a year ago.
Yun said that an increase in home sales will lift economic activity as it will boost demand for lawn maintenance, furniture, moving services, mortgage originations, and other related businesses.
The month supply on market was unchanged from the 4.5 months reported in April but was slightly below the 4.6 months supply a year ago.
The median home price increased to $429,300 from $417,500 in the previous month, up 1.3% from $423,700 level one year ago and the highest reading for a May report on record.
The monthly existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors measures sales of single-family and multi-family homes for resale at the time of closing, including the number of existing homes available and the median sales price. A strong reading is a positive sign for mortgage lenders and related consumer product companies.