New home listings and contract signings have risen to their highest levels in four years. Spring activity indicates the housing market may be moving out of a slowdown tied to high interest rates that began in 2022. Contract signing growth is outpacing recent trends for the first time in three years, suggesting buyers are waiting for favorable conditions rather than disappearing. Buyers appear ready to act where sellers align pricing with supply and demand. Contract signings are up 2.9% year to date versus 2025, and signed contracts are growing faster than new listings. Homes under contract typically close within four to six weeks, so demand signals may appear in closed sales data by June.
"For the first time in three years, we're seeing contract signing growth that genuinely outpaces the trend of the recent past. Buyers have been sidelined but they haven't disappeared-they've simply been waiting for the right conditions."
"That supply-demand-price alignment is what separates a dynamic market from a stagnant one, and we're beginning to see it take hold in a meaningful way. Buyers are looking ready to take the leap in markets where sellers are being realistic about pricing."
"By looking at new listings together with contract signings, you can get a picture of how the housing market's inherent push and pull is going. Now, those two halves of the market are both moving in a positive direction in tandem rather than working against each other-a difficult dynamic that can lead to the stagnation we've seen in recent years."
"With homes that go under contract typically closing within four to six weeks, that demand signal is on track to show up in closed sales data by June, the clearest evidence yet that the 2026 housing market is starting to move."
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