NAR Pending Home Sales Report Shows 9.3% Decrease in December

WASHINGTON (January 21, 2026) – Pending home sales in December decreased by 9.3% from the prior month and 3.0% year over year, according to the the National Association of REALTORS® Pending Home Sales Report. The report provides the real estate ecosystem – including agents and homebuyers and sellers – with data on the level of home sales under contract.

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

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

“Even after accounting for typical seasonal patterns, interpreting in-person home search activity in the winter – especially in December – can be tricky due to public holidays, people taking time off, and wintry weather conditions,” Yun added. “We’ll be watching the data in the coming months to determine whether the soft contract signings were a one-month aberration or the start of an underlying trend.”

“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. In December there were only 1.18 million homes on the market – matching the lowest inventory level of 2025.”

December 2025 National Pending Home Sales

• 9.3% decrease month over month
• 3.0% decrease year over year

December 2025 Regional Pending Home Sales 

Northeast

• 11.0% decrease month over month
• 3.6% decrease year over year

Midwest

• 14.9% decrease month over month
• 9.8% decrease year over year

South

• 4.0% decrease month over month
• 2.0% increase year over year

West 

• 13.3% decrease month over month
• 5.1% decrease year over year

While national pending home sales dipped in December, several local markets are showing notable year-over-year gains. Among the 50 largest metro areas, the following 10 markets posted the biggest annual increases in pending home sales, according to data from Realtor.com® Economics:

• Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN (+23.8%)
• San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX (+13.6%)
• Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk, VA-NC (+11.0%)
• Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC-SC (+9.7%)
• Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA-NH (+9.2%)
• Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ (+8.7%)
• Oklahoma City, OK (+8.0%)
• Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL (+6.3%)
• Pittsburgh, PA (+5.8%)
• Memphis, TN-MS-AR (+4.7%)

December 2025 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey

The REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI) survey gathers information from REALTORS® about local market conditions based on their client interactions and the characteristics of their most recent sales for the month. The RCI is reflective of closed sales activity for December. Findings from the latest RCI report include:

• 39 days: Median time on market for properties, up from 36 days last month and 35 days in December 2024.
• 29% of sales were first-time homebuyers, down from 30% last month and 31% in December 2024.
• 28% of transactions were cash sales, up from 27% a month ago and unchanged from December 2024.
• 18% of transactions were individual investors or second-home buyers, unchanged from last month and up from 16% in December 2024.
• 2% of sales were distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), unchanged from a month ago and December 2024.
• 31% of NAR members expect an increase in buyer traffic over the next three months, up from 22% last month and 27% one year ago.
• 28% expect an increase in seller traffic, up from 18% last month and 27% 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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*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

Pending contracts are good early indicators of upcoming sales closings. However, the amount of time between pending contracts and completed sales is not identical for all home sales. Variations in the length of the process from pending contract to closed sale can be caused by issues such as buyer difficulties with obtaining mortgage financing, home inspection problems, or appraisal issues.

The index is based on a sample that covers about 40% of multiple listing service data each month. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.

NOTE: Existing-Home Sales for January will be reported on February 12. The next Pending Home Sales Index will be released on February 19. All release times are 10 a.m. Eastern. View the NAR Statistical News Release Schedule.

_{[1] 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.}