Home Sales Could Rise in the Near Future

With slowing home-price growth, home sales are expected to climb through the remainder of the year. Citing Fannie Mae data, National Mortgage Professional reports an additional 60,000 homes to be sold nationally, with 2026 potentially seeing even more sales. The U.S. government-sponsored enterprise projects single-family home sales to end the year at 4.92 million units, with existing-home sales accounting for 4.24 million of those. Total home sales are forecasted to finish the year at 5.25 million units.

Overall, home sales in 2025 are expected to rise 3.6%, with an even higher increase projected for 2026. Next year, total home sales are forecasted to grow by 6.8%.

The upward revisions come partly because Fannie Mae expects mortgage rates will be lower. The company forecasts rates will end 2025 at 6.1% and 2026 at 5.8%, which is down slightly from 6.2% and 6.0%, respectively, in the company’s April forecast.

Fannie Mae expects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate will average 6.4% this year, and 5.9% in 2026. According to the May outlook projections, the GSE is now expecting higher mortgage origination totals.