In the mortgage market, rates on a 30-year fixed loan dropped for the first time in a month. The dip was modest, and rates are still solidly in the upper 6% range we’ve seen for most of the past eight months, but they remain lower than they were at this time last year.
The labor market showed that companies continued to add jobs in May. Job gains were greatest in health care (62,000 jobs added), leisure and hospitality (48,000 jobs added), and social assistance industries (16,000 jobs added), while the federal government saw employment continue to decline (-22,000).
Consistent with job gains, unemployment held steady at a low level, and wages rose. Although consumers have expressed concern about the labor market, the data has held up.
With listings rising, home prices were roughly flat and homes also took longer to sell.
Pending home sales—homes under contract—fell 2.5% compared with last year, as a renewed climb in mortgage rates in prior weeks weighed on buyers.
Homes spent a median of 51 days on the market, six more than a year ago, but about the same level as pre-pandemic norms for May.
Price cuts were reported on 19.1% of listings—the highest share for any May since at least July 2016, when our tracking began, and the fifth consecutive month with growing price reductions.
Weekly housing data shows that these trends were fairly consistent throughout the month, though the last week of the month showed modestly weaker new listings, which are worth keeping an eye on.
Turning to the demand side of the equation, the Realtor.com International Demand Report showed that shoppers from abroad grew slightly as a share of all international traffic in the first quarter. However, we saw a drop from potential Canadian home shoppers, underscoring fallout from recent trade and other policies on cross-border real estate interest.
While coastal magnets like Miami, New York City, and Los Angeles continue to attract global buyers, the growing appeal of Texas markets to international shoppers is a notable shift that mirrors trends seen in domestic migration as well.