After nearly three years of a market stuck in deep freeze, existing home sales are showing real signs of life.
The National Association of Realtors reported that previously owned home sales have now climbed for several consecutive months, pulling above the sluggish pace that defined 2023 and 2024.
For anyone who has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a break, this is the first stretch in a while where the numbers actually tell a friendlier story.
The shift isn't dramatic, and it isn't uniform.
More inventory is hitting the market as homeowners who locked in low rates during the pandemic finally decide to move anyway, accepting that a 7% mortgage isn't coming back to 3% anytime soon.
That resignation is quietly unlocking listings that buyers desperately needed.
For most of the past two years, sellers held nearly all the cards.
Bidding wars, waived inspections, and offers tens of thousands over asking were routine.
Now, in many metros, homes are sitting longer on the market.
Buyers are asking for concessions again — closing cost help, repairs, even rate buydowns — and some sellers are actually saying yes.
Nationally, median existing home prices have held steady or crept higher, because supply is still historically tight and the homes that are selling tend to be the better ones.
A buyer who lost five bidding wars in 2022 might now be the only serious offer on the table.
The average 30-year fixed has bounced around in the low-to-mid 6% range, well below the 8% peak that scared off so many shoppers.
Every dip below 6.5% tends to pull new buyers off the fence, which quickly tightens inventory again.
That push-and-pull is why this recovery feels less like a boom and more like a slow thaw.
If you're shopping right now, the practical playbook has changed.
Get pre-approved before you tour, so you can move fast when something good appears.
Don't assume the asking price is the final price — ask your agent for recent comparable sales and how long the home has sat.
Sellers who overpriced in spring are often more flexible by fall.
If you're selling, the message is less comfortable.
Overpricing and hoping is a losing strategy in 2025.
Homes that are priced right and show well still move, sometimes in days.
Homes that are priced on nostalgia sit, then get cut, then sit again.
The bigger picture: this is a market transitioning from dysfunction back toward something resembling normal.
For buyers who have felt powerless for years, that's a meaningful change. **The bottom line:** existing home sales aren't surging, but they're healing, and healing markets hand leverage back to whoever shows up prepared.
If you've been waiting for a better moment to buy, the window is cracking open — just don't expect prices to fall into your lap.
Final Thoughts
Do the math on your monthly payment, not the headline rate, and negotiate like the market finally allows it.