NAR Existing-Home Sales Report Shows 1.7% Increase in February

WASHINGTON (March 10, 2026) – Existing-home sales increased by 1.7% month-over-month in February, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Existing-Home Sales Report. The report provides the real estate ecosystem—including agents, homebuyers and sellers—with data on the level of home sales, price, and inventory.

Month-over-month sales rose in the Midwest, South and West, and fell in the Northeast. Year-over-year sales rose in the South and fell in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

Affordability improved for the eighth consecutive month, according to NAR’s Housing Affordability Index—increasing to 117.6 in February from 117.1 in January and 103.1 a year ago. This marks the highest level since March 2022.

“Housing affordability is improving, and consumers are responding,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “Still, there is a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels of transaction activity. There are more than 6 million more jobs than in 2019, yet home sales per year are down by one million.”

“Despite the modest gain in home sales, actual housing demand remains muted relative to wage growth and job gains,” Yun continued. “Wage growth is now outpacing home price growth by almost four percentage points. Mortgage rates are also measurably lower compared to a year ago.”

“Inventory is growing, but sluggishly,” he added. “If demand picks up notably in the coming months and outpaces supply growth, home prices will inevitably rise. That is why increasing supply is so important to help limit home price growth, improve housing affordability, and boost transactions.”

National Snapshot

Total Existing-Home Sales for February

• 1.7% increase in existing-home sales¹ month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million.
• 1.4% decrease in sales year-over-year.

Inventory in February

• 1.29 million units: Total housing inventory², up 2.4% from January and 4.9% from February 2025.
• 3.8-month supply of unsold inventory, unchanged from last month and up from 3.6 months one year ago.

Median Sales Price in February

• $398,000: Median existing-home price3 for all housing types, up 0.3% from one year ago ($396,800)—the 32nd consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.

Housing Affordability in February

• The Housing Affordability Index rose to 117.6 in February, up from 117.1 in January and 103.1 a year ago.
• Year-over-year, affordability improved across all regions.
  • Northeast +10.0%
  • Midwest +11.7%
  • South +14.1%
  • West +17.0%

Single-Family and Condo/Co-op Sales

Single-Family Homes in February

• 2.5% increase in sales month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.73 million, down 1.1% from February 2025.
• $401,800: Median home price, up 0.2% from last year.

Condominiums and Co-ops in February

• 5.3% decrease in sales month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 360,000, down 5.3% from last year.
• $358,100: Median price, up 0.9% from February 2025.

Regional Snapshot for Existing-Home Sales in February

Northeast

• 6.0% decrease in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 470,000, down 4.1% year-over-year.
• $479,800: Median price, up 3.3% from February 2025.

Midwest

• 1.1% increase in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 940,000, down 4.1% year-over-year.
• $302,100: Median price, up 2.3% from February 2025.

South

• 1.6% increase in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 1.89 million, up 0.5% year-over-year.
• $356,800: Median price, up 0.2% from February 2025.

West

• 8.2% increase in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 790,000, down 1.3% year-over-year.
• $603,100: Median price, down 1.9% from February 2025.

REALTORS® Confidence Index for February

• 47 days: Median time on market for properties, up from 46 days last month and 42 days in February 2025.
• 34% of sales were first-time homebuyers, up from 31% in January and one year ago.
• 31% of transactions were cash sales, up from 27% a month ago and down from 32% in February 2025.
• 16% of transactions were individual investors or second-home buyers, unchanged from last month and one year ago.
• 3% of sales were distressed sales ⁴ (foreclosures and short sales), up from 2% last month and unchanged from February 2025.

Mortgage Rates

• 6.05%: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in February, according to Freddie Mac, down from 6.10% in January and 6.84% one year ago.

About the National Association of REALTORS®

The National Association of REALTORS® is involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes – from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation – visit facts.realtor.

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For local information, please contact the local association of REALTORS® for data from local multiple listing services (MLS). Local MLS data is the most accurate source of sales and price information in specific areas, although there may be differences in reporting methodology.

NOTE: NAR's Pending Home Sales Index for February will be released March 17, and Existing-Home Sales for March will be released April 13. Release times are 10 a.m. Eastern. See NAR's statistical news release schedule.

¹ Existing-home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, are based on transaction closings from Multiple Listing Services. Changes in sales trends outside of MLSs are not captured in the monthly series. NAR benchmarks home sales periodically using other sources to assess overall home sales trends, including sales not reported by MLSs.

Existing-home sales, based on closings, differ from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series on new single-family home sales, which are based on contracts or the acceptance of a deposit. Because of these differences, it is not uncommon for each series to move in different directions in the same month. In addition, existing-home sales, which account for more than 90% of total home sales, are based on a much larger data sample – about 40% of multiple listing service data each month – and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.

The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting monthly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is normally higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family buying patterns. However, seasonal factors cannot compensate for abnormal weather patterns.

Single-family data collection began monthly in 1968, while condo data collection began quarterly in 1981; the series were combined in 1999 when monthly collection of condo data began. Prior to this period, single-family homes accounted for more than nine out of 10 purchases. Historic comparisons for total home sales prior to 1999 are based on monthly single-family sales, combined with the corresponding quarterly sales rate for condos.

² Total inventory and month’s supply data are available back through 1999, while single-family inventory and month’s supply are available back to 1982 (prior to 1999, single-family sales accounted for more than 90% of transactions and condos were measured only on a quarterly basis).

³ The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical of market conditions than average prices, which are skewed higher by a relatively small share of upper-end transactions. The only valid comparisons for median prices are with the same period a year earlier due to seasonality in buying patterns. Month-to-month comparisons do not compensate for seasonal changes, especially for the timing of family buying patterns. Changes in the composition of sales can distort median price data. Year-ago median and mean prices sometimes are revised in an automated process if additional data is received.

The national median condo/co-op price often is higher than the median single-family home price because condos are concentrated in higher-cost housing markets. However, in a given area, single-family homes typically sell for more than condos as seen in NAR’s quarterly metro area price reports.

⁴ Distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), days on market, first-time buyers, all-cash transactions and investors are from a monthly survey for the NAR’s REALTORS® Confidence Index, posted at nar.realtor.