December US Existing Home Sales Rise Faster Than Expected, Highest in Three Years

10:00 AM EST, 01/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The pace of US existing home sales rose by 5.1% to a 4.35 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in December from 4.14 million in November, compared with an expected increase to a 4.22 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, data from the National Association of Realtors released Wednesday showed.

The December sales pace was the strongest since February 2023, according to National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Total sales were up 1.4% from a year earlier. For 2025 as a whole, existing home sales were 4.06 million, the same as in 2024 and below 4.09 million sales in 2023.

Yun said that 2025 was "another tough year for homebuyers, marked by record-high home prices and historically low home sales," but said that conditions were beginning to improve due to lower mortgage rates and slowing in home price appreciation.

Sales of single-family homes were up 5.1%, while condominium sales rose by 5.3%.

Sales were up in all four regions of the country from November and were unchanged in two of the four regions from a year earlier. Sales rose in the South from a year earlier and were down in the Northeast. There was no change in the Midwest and West regions from December 2024.

The supply of homes for sale fell to 1.18 million homes in December from 1.44 million in November but were up 3.5% from the 1.14 million level a year ago.

"Inventory levels remain tight," Yun noted. "With fewer sellers feeling eager to move, homeowners are taking their time deciding when to list or delist their homes. Similar to past years, more inventory is expected to come to market beginning in February."

The month supply on market fell to 3.3 months from 4.2 months in November but was above the 3.2 months supply a year ago.

The median home price fell to $405,400 from $410,000 in November but was up 0.4% from $403,700 in December 2024. This was the highest December price reading on record.

The monthly existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors measures sales of single-family and multi-family homes for resale at the time of closing, including the number of existing homes available and the median sales price. A strong reading is a positive sign for mortgage lenders and related consumer product companies.

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