June 12, 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.
- For the week ending June 12, Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale covers a three-year high for inflation, with the CPI climbing 4.2% in the year ending in May, and notes that core inflation’s month-to-month increase was more moderate, with colleague Jake Krimmel flagging inflation contagion as the most important indicator to watch. She also covers mortgage rates, which edged up 4 basis points to 6.52%, with Sr. Economist Anthony Smith and colleague Jiayi Xu providing more detail in the weekly mortgage rate update video.
- Danielle highlights a strong existing home sales report, with May sales climbing to 4.17 million, their highest pace of the year and 3.2% above the prior May, with first-time buyers making up a larger share of purchases. She also covers the Realtor.com weekly housing data, showing asking prices continuing to soften modestly while active listings trend higher than a year ago, and notes that the value of household real estate reached a new high of $48.7 trillion in Q1 2026 according to Federal Reserve data.
- She highlights the May Hottest Housing Markets report from Sr. Economist Hannah Jones, showing markets in the Northeast and Midwest continuing to rank among the most competitive in the country.
- Finally, Danielle covers the May Luxury Housing Report from Anthony Smith, finding that while luxury listing prices continue to soften, pandemic-era gains are being retained unevenly across markets, with Minneapolis and Boise exceeding their pandemic-era pricing highs and a national average retained gain of 59%. She also highlights a list-to-sale price ratio analysis from Joel Berner, finding that as of March the typical home sold for 99% of its final list price and nearly 97% of its initial list price.
- 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:
- A three-year high for inflation, escalation and de-escalation in the middle east, and mortgage rates hitting 6.52%—it has been a roller coaster of a week. But behind the chaotic macroeconomic headlines is a major bright spot for home sales and generational wealth. I’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com® and I’m breaking down the crucial weekly shifts that every agent, homebuyer and seller needs to know right now.
- The biggest economic data this week was inflation, and the consumer price index–a measure of how higher prices are pinching consumer wallets based on typical spending patterns–showed that inflation was at a 3-year high, climbing 4.2% in the year ending in May. Core inflation also rose in the last year, but its month-to-month increase was more moderate. Because it excludes energy prices that are directly-shocked by conflict in the Middle-East, core inflation is a good gauge of the spillover or contagion that we see from oil into other prices, and this month’s data painted a far better picture than last month. We’re not yet out of the woods. My colleague Jake Krimmel noted that “Although inflation contagion is not yet deepening, it remains the most important thing to watch.”
- This also doesn’t change the fact that consumers saw real wages decline. Although take-home pay is still climbing, as we noted in last week’s jobs report, inflation means that the buying power of those dollars is diminished, and consumers will either have to pull back on spending or save less.
- With inflation climbing and the jobs market showing continued resilience, mortgage rates moved higher, edging up 4 basis points to 6.52%. Despite the modest setback in weekly rates, mortgage rates remain lower than they were at this time last year which is a silver lining for buyers and sellers who appear to be taking the uptick mostly in stride. My colleagues, Anthony Smith and Jiayi Xu discuss this in more detail in our latest weekly mortgage rate update video.
- One major sign that buyers and sellers are navigating spring’s challenges well? Existing home sales climbed to 4.17 million in May, their highest pace of the year. They also registered 3.2% higher than last May. Notably, first-time homebuyers, a group that has had a hard time breaking into the housing market, made up a larger share of home sales in May compared to both the prior month and prior year. It can still be a challenging market to navigate, but there are signs of progress for determined homebuyers. While home sales prices continued to climb, their 1.3% gain did not outpace inflation or recent wage growth, which is helping to improve affordability for buyers.
- The national home sales picture was positive and we know that housing is local. Our May Hottest Housing Markets report authored by Hannah Jones shows familiar regional trends with markets in the Northeast and Midwest continuing to rank among the most competitive in the country.
- Realtor.com weekly housing data show a lot of continuity. Nationwide asking prices continue to be modestly softer a signal that sellers may be more motivated this year that last. Active listings continue to trend higher than a year ago, but the gap is shrinking as homes sit on the market for roughly the same amount of time. The new listing trend, which is a key indicator, showed that new seller engagement continues to be uneven. As a whole this year, new listings are tracking roughly in line with the prior year.
- Although asking prices softened, sales prices continued to climb, which helped propel the value of household real estate to a new high of $48.7 trillion in the first quarter of 2026 according to data from the Federal Reserve. Even though mortgage debt also rose, an estimated $34.9 trillion in equity remains, contributing handsomely to household wealth. While these figures reflect total values across the economy, our Generational Wealth research finds that homeownership over time also contributes to individual wealth in a way that carries forward into benefits for the next generation.
- Finally, I want to wrap up with two new reports this week. The first, is our monthly look at high-end housing trends which showed that although listing prices continue to soften for luxury homes, they’re not doing so evenly. Anthony Smith found that some markets have done a better job of holding onto their pandemic-era gains than others. Nationwide the average share of run-up retained is 59%, but in Minneapolis and Boise, high-end homes have exceeded their pandemic-era pricing highs, while in 5 other markets, retained gains exceed 80%.
- My colleague Joel Berner released a look at the pricing journey we see in for-sale homes finding that the typical list to sale price ratio can vary over time with market conditions, seasonality, and across property types and regions. As of March, the typical home sold for 99% of its final list price and nearly 97% of its initial list price. Homes in the South are more likely than homes in other regions to sell below their asking prices and this has been a fairly consistent trend, while homes in the West have seen the biggest variation in asking prices relative to sales prices over the last 6 years
- 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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