June 5, 2026
Overview
- The Realtor.com® economics team video update gives you the relevant economic and real estate information you need to know each week, every Friday, to navigate the housing market as a homebuyer, home seller, or industry professional.
- Realtor.com® Sr. Economist Hannah Jones takes a look at the May Monthly Housing Report, which shows the biggest annual decline in prices in our data’s history and a cheerful uptick in pending home sales.
- For the week ending June 5, Hannah covers the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate, which came in at 6.48% this week, down 5 basis points from last week.
- Hannah also highlights the latest Realtor.com weekly housing data, showing active inventory up 1.8% year over year and asking prices down 2.3% for the 20th consecutive week, with sellers increasingly pricing to market from the start.
- She covers the May Monthly Housing Report, which shows easing prices and more pending home sales, as well as the May Jobs Report, which showed 172,000 jobs added, an unemployment rate of 4.3%, and wage growth of 3.4% year over year.
- Finally, Hannah previews next week’s May CPI release, explaining why the inflation data will be a key signal for the Fed, mortgage rates, and housing affordability heading into summer.
- Find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates. And Instagram @realtordotcomecon for graphics.
Reports and articles referenced:
Housing data for download:
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- May housing data is in and according to my colleague Jake Krimmel “Sellers are pricing to sell rather than pricing to test the market. Buyers are still showing up when prices are within budget”. I’m Hannah Jones, Senior Economist at Realtor.com, sitting in for Chief Economist Danielle Hale. Let’s get into what’s moving the market this week.
- Realtor.com Senior Economist Jake Krimmel published a full rundown on the May housing market this week. May continued a string of relatively lively housing data. Year on year listing prices fell for a seventh straight month — by 2.4%, representing the steepest year-over-year decline in Realtor.com® data going back to 2017 — while homes under contract rose for a sixth straight month. This tells us that sellers are pricing to sell and buyers are responding in kind.
- Regionally, May reversed some recent patterns. New listings surged in the Northeast and Midwest, while the South and West saw stalling inventory growth.
- Aligning with the national trend, home prices fell year-over-year in most major U.S. metros. However, price reductions have also fallen, and together this data suggests that prices are falling because sellers are adjusting their expectations ahead of listing rather than pricing too high and reducing price later. That’s an important distinction — it signals a healthier, more realistic market rather than one where sellers are being forced to chase buyers down.
- Zooming in to the most recent Realtor.com weekly housing data covered by Economist Jiayi Xu, the trends from May are holding. Asking prices fell 2.3% year over year, active inventory grew 1.8%, and time on market was essentially flat compared to last year. The picture is consistent: a market that is gradually loosening, with sellers adjusting and buyers slowly responding, but no dramatic shifts in either direction.
- Pivoting to the other big piece of the puzzle, my colleagues Anthony Smith and Joel Berner covered mortgage rates in depth in their weekly mortgage rate update video. In short, the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate came in at 6.48% this week, down 5 basis points from last week. The 10-year Treasury yield held below 4.5% through the end of last week, which gave mortgage rates space to soften. The conflict in the Middle East is keeping mortgage rates high, as the oil shock propagates inflation concern through the economy. Rates remain 37 basis points below where they were at this time last year, which is a meaningful tailwind for buyers compared to recent springs.
- Turning to the May Jobs Report coverage by Jake Krimmel, the economy added 172,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, marking a third consecutive month of solid payroll growth. Wage growth came in at 3.4% year over year, slipping from the previous month. As Jake noted, “We remain in a low-hire, low-fire labor market, but one that looks increasingly stable.” The April and May job additions were revised 93,000 jobs higher, strengthening this stretch of labor data. For the housing market, three months of solid job growth is meaningful. But the headline number isn’t the only data point that matters. The race between earnings growth and inflation — one that wage growth is currently losing — will determine whether consumers are gaining any real purchasing power this summer. That’s the lens through which I’ll be reading next week’s CPI data.
- And that brings me to what I’ll be watching closely next week: the release of the May Consumer Price Index. A stable labor market is good news in and of itself — but its biggest contribution right now may be that it gives the Fed one fewer fire to put out, letting policymakers focus squarely on inflation. Inflation has been one of the most persistent forces keeping mortgage rates elevated, and the CPI print will be a key signal for the Fed, for bond markets, and frankly for anyone trying to time a home purchase or sale this summer. If inflation cools, it strengthens the case for the Fed to begin easing — which could translate into lower mortgage rates in the months ahead. If it comes in hot, rates are likely to stay rangebound or move higher. Either way, it’s one of the most important data points on the housing market calendar right now, and we’ll have full coverage here next week.
You can find all the details including the Realtor.com Market Clock, full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates. And Instagram for graphics.
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