Existing Home Sales Essentially Flat in April at 4.02 Million Annual Pace

U.S. 02 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. 12 million pace economists expected, according to FactSet.

2 million annually. U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022. Sales were flat in 2025 and stuck at a 30-year low.

They declined from a year earlier through the first three months of 2026. “This spring homebuying season, so far all the way through April, we can say we are not predicting any increase compared to one year ago,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

U.S. That was an all-time high for the median existing-home sales price in any April on data going back to 1999. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 34 consecutive months as of April 2026.

4% from April 2025. 83 million homes. A typical pre-COVID-19 pandemic month-end inventory was roughly 2 million homes.

4-month supply at the current sales pace. Traditionally a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers. “We really need to see 30% growth in inventory, but we’re not really seeing that,” Yun said.

Properties typically remained on the market for 32 days in April 2026 before selling. Homes remained on the market for 41 days in March 2026 and 29 days in April 2025. U.S. Home prices, affordability remains a major hurdle for aspiring homeowners. Years of soaring home prices, especially in the early part of this decade when rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a buying frenzy, have left many would-be homebuyers frozen out of the market.

A chronic shortage of homes for sale nationally, due partly to years of below-average new home construction, has helped prop up home prices even in a multiyear sales slump.