Home Shopping Season Shows Signs of Life As Sales, New Listings Rebound (Zillow June Market Report)
Lower mortgage costs and sales jump offer hope, even as inventory growth hits a three-year low
- Home sales jumped 5.9% from last year, according to Zillow’s June Market Report, reversing May’s decline.
- New listings grew 3% annually after falling in May, though total inventory has nearly stalled after a long run of gains. Listing trends are diverging by price tier, with more inventory and sales for lower-priced homes.
- Lower mortgage rates helped push the typical monthly payment 2.5% below year-ago levels.
Pack your favorite literary metaphor and bring it to the 2026 housing recovery. You can reach for Schulz’s Charlie Brown and the football, or Quixote tilting at windmills, or maybe the Greeks with their penchant for overwrought narratives using Sisyphus, Tantalus, or Penelope. Like a great novel, 2026 has been a rollercoaster of emotions in terms of setback and recovery. June’s chapter was pointedly more upbeat than May’s, with sales 5.9% higher than a year prior, and 9.2% higher than May.
Some of that growth was no doubt assisted by the extra working day in June 2026 relative to June 2025, so the real cumulative growth for the year is still likely to come in lower. Still, home sales were higher in June and mortgage costs fell further below last year’s levels, reinforcing much of our most recent forecasts.
Affordability continued to improve, as well, with the cost of a typical mortgage down 2.5% from last year, before taxes and insurance. Mortgage rates are driving the improvement, down more than 20 basis points since last year, according to Freddie Mac. The typical U.S. home value of $372,057 is up just 1.1% from a year ago.
In another reversal from May, new listings rose 3% year over year, a sign that there may yet be some life left in this year’s home shopping season. Total inventory rose again on a year-over-year basis, extending a long streak of gains. But the gain was just 0.9%, smallest since December 2023.
Interestingly, there is pronounced divergence in some of the listing activity and sales trends by home price tier. Newly pending listings for the bottom 5% of the market in terms of home values rose 10.3% year over year, the first time since 2022 that this tier had the fastest growth. Despite this run-up in pending sales, active inventory for the lowest price tier also grew faster than any other category, rising 12.2% from last year — again, for the first time since 2022. This is putting much-needed downward pressure on prices for the lowest value properties, with the share being sold below list price rising 2.9% annually. However, the lowest price tiers are exhibiting some softness in terms of overall selling price. While the divergence in sales price is notably ‘k-shaped,’ affordability gains did continue in June, which will help lower-income households going forward.
Home Values & Mortgage Payments
- The typical U.S. home value is $372,057.
- The Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) rose 0.7% month over month in June. Home values are 1.1% higher than a year earlier.
- The monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home is $1,884, assuming a 20% down payment and excluding taxes and insurance. That is 2.5% lower than last year.
Inventory
- There were 1.39 million homes for sale nationwide in June.
- Active inventory was 0.9% higher than a year earlier. Inventory rose 2% from May.
- New for-sale listings totaled 403,811 in June, up 3% from a year earlier and down 4.6% from May.
Sales
- 381,125 homes were sold in June, according to the preliminary Zillow sales count nowcast. That is 5.9% higher than a year earlier and up 9.2% from May. These figures will be revised mid-month.
- Newly pending listings, which measures listings that changed from for-sale to pending status rather than closed sales, shows 7.6% growth from a year earlier and a 1.5% decrease from May.
Competition
- Homes took a median of 20 days to go pending in June. That was the same as a year earlier and two days slower than in May.
- The share of listings with a price cut in June was 25.8%. That was down from 26.6% a year earlier and up from 23.9% in May.
- 30.3% of homes sold above list price in May, the most recent data available. That’s compared to 31.1% a year earlier and 28.3% in April.
Rents
- The typical rent nationwide is $1,965, according to the Zillow Observed Rent Index. That’s 2.2% higher than a year earlier and up 0.4% from May.
- 39.7% of rental listings on Zillow offered a concession in June. That’s up from 39.5% in May, and up from 35.2% a year earlier.
Local data can be found on Zillow’s market explorer. The Zillow July Market Report is expected to be released August 5.
| Zillow June Market Report | ||||||||
| Metro Area | Typical Home Value | Home Value Change: MoM | Home Value Change: YoY | Inventory Change: YoY | Sales Count Nowcast Change: YoY | Typical Rent (ZORI) | Rent Change: MoM | Rent Change: YoY |
| United States | $372,057 | 0.7% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 5.9% | $1,965 | 0.4% | 2.2% |
| New York, NY | $736,042 | 1% | 4.4% | 1.6% | -4.3% | $3,573 | 0.9% | 4.5% |
| Los Angeles, CA | $965,867 | 0.2% | 0.6% | -2% | 6.6% | $2,927 | 0.2% | 1.5% |
| Chicago, IL | $359,897 | 1.3% | 4.8% | 0.6% | 8.5% | $2,275 | 0.7% | 5.2% |
| Dallas, TX | $365,048 | 0.3% | -2.5% | -6.4% | 9.4% | $1,673 | 0.2% | 0% |
| Houston, TX | $307,273 | 0.2% | -2% | 3.5% | 6% | $1,648 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| Washington, DC | $584,571 | 0.5% | 0.1% | 6.9% | 5.8% | $2,448 | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Philadelphia, PA | $394,620 | 1.1% | 2.6% | 8.6% | -0.6% | $1,928 | 0.5% | 3.6% |
| Miami, FL | $476,638 | 0.4% | -1.2% | -14% | 17.9% | $2,695 | 0.1% | 1.2% |
| Atlanta, GA | $381,729 | 0.3% | -1.7% | -0.9% | -0.4% | $1,854 | 0.6% | 1.9% |
| Boston, MA | $744,972 | 0.9% | 2% | 12.2% | 8.7% | $3,210 | 0.2% | 2.6% |
| Phoenix, AZ | $445,343 | 0% | -1.5% | -3.4% | 8.9% | $1,733 | 0.1% | 0% |
| San Francisco, CA | $1,144,062 | 0.4% | 1.4% | -15.3% | 10.9% | $3,301 | 1.7% | 8.2% |
| Riverside, CA | $584,574 | 0.1% | -0.5% | -7.5% | 7% | $2,539 | 0.3% | 2.3% |
| Detroit, MI | $270,689 | 1.1% | 2.4% | 9.2% | 0.6% | $1,518 | 0.5% | 3.2% |
| Seattle, WA | $742,220 | 0% | -1.7% | 14% | -1.1% | $2,269 | 0.7% | 1.4% |
| Minneapolis, MN | $394,234 | 0.8% | 2% | 15.9% | 7.9% | $1,727 | 0.5% | 3.4% |
| San Diego, CA | $940,304 | 0.3% | 0.1% | -5.7% | 12.5% | $2,991 | 0.4% | 1.7% |
| Tampa, FL | $359,973 | 0.3% | -2.1% | -9.2% | 3.3% | $2,020 | 0.1% | -0.7% |
| Denver, CO | $571,808 | 0.3% | -2.1% | -7% | 8.1% | $1,930 | 0.6% | -1.3% |
| Baltimore, MD | $406,745 | 0.6% | 0.8% | 9.5% | 6.1% | $1,936 | 0.3% | 2.2% |
| St. Louis, MO | $280,017 | 1.2% | 3.4% | 7.3% | 5.6% | $1,459 | 0.5% | 4% |
| Orlando, FL | $385,766 | 0.1% | -2.3% | -5.1% | 14.3% | $1,972 | 0.4% | 0.7% |
| Charlotte, NC | $389,125 | 0.3% | -0.4% | 8.8% | -0.4% | $1,750 | 0.3% | 0.5% |
| San Antonio, TX | $278,941 | 0.1% | -1.8% | 3.4% | 14% | $1,416 | -0.1% | -1.8% |
| Portland, OR | $551,911 | 0.5% | -0.5% | 0.3% | 9.1% | $1,805 | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Sacramento, CA | $582,799 | 0.4% | -0.7% | -7% | 15% | $2,308 | 0.5% | 2% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $234,727 | 1.3% | 0.5% | 10.6% | 2.1% | $1,523 | 0.4% | 3.6% |
| Cincinnati, OH | $312,453 | 0.9% | 2.5% | 10.7% | 4% | $1,583 | 0.1% | 2.8% |
| Austin, TX | $424,110 | 0.1% | -5.2% | -7.1% | 16.3% | $1,653 | 0.5% | -1.7% |
| Las Vegas, NV | $427,825 | -0.1% | -3.1% | 0.2% | 10.9% | $1,748 | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Kansas City, MO | $331,552 | 1% | 3.8% | 0.3% | 5.5% | $1,545 | 0.5% | 3.4% |
| Columbus, OH | $334,559 | 0.9% | 1.4% | 7.5% | 22.1% | $1,528 | 0.4% | 1.5% |
| Indianapolis, IN | $296,207 | 0.6% | 1.1% | 11.3% | 14.1% | $1,558 | 0.6% | 2.5% |
| Cleveland, OH | $254,986 | 1.4% | 4% | 11.9% | 10.4% | $1,474 | 0.4% | 4% |
| San Jose, CA | $1,579,943 | -0.5% | -0.9% | 0.4% | 1.9% | $3,729 | 1.5% | 6.2% |
| Nashville, TN | $456,355 | 0.4% | -0.6% | 8.3% | 8.7% | $1,810 | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $376,903 | 0.8% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 3.9% | $1,878 | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| Providence, RI | $531,763 | 1.2% | 3.6% | 4% | 7.1% | $2,172 | 0.4% | 3.5% |
| Jacksonville, FL | $352,624 | 0.4% | -0.8% | -14.9% | 2.9% | $1,708 | 0.5% | 1.2% |
| Milwaukee, WI | $393,554 | 1.3% | 5.3% | 6.6% | 9.5% | $1,552 | 0.5% | 4.2% |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $247,292 | 0.5% | 1% | 6.4% | 9.5% | $1,393 | 0.3% | 2.8% |
| Raleigh, NC | $436,249 | 0.2% | -1.9% | 11% | 17% | $1,689 | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Memphis, TN | $246,954 | 0.4% | 0.1% | 13.5% | -7.3% | $1,435 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| Richmond, VA | $399,039 | 0.8% | 2.7% | 4% | 11.6% | $1,772 | 0.5% | 3.3% |
| Louisville, KY | $283,500 | 0.7% | 1.5% | 20% | 12.6% | $1,385 | -0.1% | 2.3% |
| New Orleans, LA | $264,193 | 0.6% | 2.5% | -2.6% | 0.6% | $1,617 | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $566,343 | 0.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 17.5% | $1,638 | 0.4% | 0.6% |
| Hartford, CT | $407,270 | 1.6% | 5.4% | 1.5% | 4.9% | $2,013 | 0.4% | 3.1% |
| Buffalo, NY | $294,112 | 1.8% | 4.5% | 18.6% | -2.9% | $1,461 | 0.3% | 3.1% |
| Birmingham, AL | $263,437 | 0.8% | 2.3% | 3% | 2.4% | $1,462 | 0.3% | 1.2% |
*Table ordered by market size
