US active housing inventory reached its highest level since November 2019 in early August, marking another step in the recovery from pandemic-era shortages. Yet existing homes represented just 4.6 months of supply in July, unchanged from both June and a year earlier.
The figures come from different datasets, but they illustrate why a rising listing count does not automatically produce a comparable increase in months of supply. Sales pace, local demand and the homes included in each dataset all affect how much inventory buyers actually face.
How months of supply works
Months of supply estimates how long available inventory would last at the current sales pace if no new homes were listed. Because the calculation reflects both inventory and sales, the figure can rise when demand slows even if the number of homes for sale does not increase.
Months of supply can also rise without a surge in new listings if sales slow enough. Fewer transactions mean existing inventory takes longer to absorb, particularly when buyer demand has weakened.
Conditions can vary substantially by metro, price range and property type. Pair months of supply with local pending sales, days on market and price reductions before advising clients.
Existing-home supply holds steady
Existing-home inventory totaled 1.54 million units in July, down 1.9% from June and 0.6% from July 2025. Sales declined 1.7% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million.
With inventory and sales both moving lower, months of supply held at 4.6. That was the same as both the previous month and July 2025.
Realtor.com and NAR use different methodologies and measures of inventory, so their listing totals should not be compared directly. The same caution applies when combining national figures with MLS or builder data.
New-home supply remains elevated
The latest federal new-home sales figures currently run through June. Census and HUD estimated 485,000 new single-family homes for sale at the end of the month, equal to 9.3 months of supply.
That was slightly below the revised 9.4-month supply recorded in May but above the 9.0-month level from June 2025. New-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000 in June, down 5.6% from a year earlier.
New- and existing-home supply figures are not directly comparable because they cover different parts of the housing market. Current new-construction pricing and incentives should also be checked at the individual community or project level rather than inferred from the national supply figure.
What to pull before the next appointment
National inventory provides context; local data should drive the advice. Pull active inventory, recent closed and pending sales, median days on market, price reductions and sale-to-list-price ratios by price tier and property type.
For sellers, track how quickly comparable listings go under contract. For buyers, look at competition and days on market. Those measures provide a more precise view of negotiating conditions than a national inventory count alone.