Due to higher mortgage rates and home prices, summer home sales have been more moderate this year. Home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops, fell 1.7% in July 2026 compared to June. However, sales reached a 0.7% increase compared to a year ago. Lawrence Yun, the National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) chief economist, said that the year is still showing signs of improvement.
“Home sales have been remarkably stable, even amid the rising mortgage rate environment of the past few months,” said Yun.
NAR recently reported that 80% of about 235 major metro areas it tracked continued to see home prices rise in the second quarter. Some metros even reported double-digit annual price increases of about 10%.
“Sellers are making more price adjustments as summer progresses, and buyers are responding more selectively, but homes are still going under contract at a faster pace than last year,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist. “The key question for the months ahead is whether price reductions help sustain buyer engagement or signal that sellers are getting ahead of softer demand.”
