Housing Research Brief

Wage growth outpaces flattening existing home sales prices. First time buyers accounted for 35 percent of existing home transactions in May, up from 30 percent a year earlier. This helped drive a 3.3 percent year-over-year increase in seasonally adjusted existing home sales for the month. Looking ahead, improving affordability could support continued momentum, as U.S. wages rose 3.8 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, exceeding the post-2000 average of 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, the median existing home sale price of around $420,000 has remained largely unchanged since the start of 2025. This has allowed household incomes to gradually close some of the gap with housing costs, despite elevated mortgage rates.