ShareNAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this January declined 4.9% from December 2024. January home sales reached a 4.08 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. January sales of existing homes rose 2.0% from January 2024.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types reached $396,900 in January, up 4.8% from a year ago.
Regionally, in January, all four regions showed price growth from a year ago. The Northeast had the largest gain of 9.5%, followed by the West with an incline of 7.4%. The Midwest had an increase of 7.2%, while the South region rose 3.5%.
January’s inventory of unsold listings as of the end of the month was up 3.5% from last month, standing at 1,180,000 homes for sale. Compared with January of 2024, inventory levels were up 16.8%. It will take 3.5 months to sell the current level of inventory at the current sales pace, well below the desired pace of 6 months.
It takes approximately 41 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market. A year ago, it took 36 days.
From a year ago, three of the four regions had inclines in sales in January 2024. The Midwest region rose 5.3%, followed by the Northeast with a gain of 4.2%. The West inclined at 1.4%, followed by the Midwest region, which showed no gain.
Compared to December 2024, three of the four regions showed a decline in sales. The Midwest region was flat. The West had the biggest drop in sales of 7.4%, followed by the South, with a decrease of 6.2%. The Northeast region had the smallest drop in sales of 5.7%.
The South led all regions in percentage of national sales, accounting for 44.9% of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 12.3%.
In January, single-family sales decreased 5.2% and condominium sales fell 2.4% compared to last month. Single-family home sales were up 2.2% while condominium sales were flat compared to a year ago. The median sales price of single-family homes rose 5.0% to $402,000 (from January 2024), while the median sales price of condominiums increased 2.9% to $349,500.
