-9.3%

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In December 2025, month-over-month pending home sales declined in all four regions. Year-over-year pending home sales rose in the South and fell in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, “The housing sector is not out of the woods yet. After several months of encouraging signs in pending contracts and closed sales, the December new contract figures have dampened the short-term outlook.”

“Data shows closing activity increased in December. However, new listings did not keep pace so inventory decreased. Consumers prefer seeing abundant inventory before making the major decision of purchasing a home. So, the decline in pending home sales could be a result of dampened consumer enthusiasm about buying a home when there are so few options listed for sale.”

Read the full news release.

Next release: Pending Home Sales for January 2026 will be released on Thursday, February 1, 2026 at 10 a.m. Eastern.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHS), a leading indicator of housing activity, measures housing contract activity, and is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops. Because a home goes under contract a month or two before it is sold, the Pending Home Sales Index generally leads Existing-Home Sales by a month or two.

Pending Home Sales data are provided by NAR solely for use as a reference. No part of the data may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or redistributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without NAR's prior written consent for those who are not members of NAR.

Members of the media who need copies of previous months' pending home sales news releases can contact the NAR media communications team at 202-383-7515.

Data

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Pending Home Sales for January 2026 will be released on Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 10 a.m. Eastern.

The NAR Public Affairs Office issues a news release on or near the 20th of each month with the latest existing-home sales figures. The releases include analysis and quotes by NAR's Chief Economist Lawrence Yun regarding the sales volume, prices, inventory and interest rates.

NAR Research Data Release Dates