Existing-Home Sales Slump as Prices Hit January High Amid Low Supply, NAR Says

03:04 PM EST, 02/12/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US existing home sales fell more than expected in January as the median price hit a new peak for the month amid low supply even as affordability improved, data from the National Association of Realtors showed Thursday.

Sales slumped 8.4% sequentially to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million units last month. The consensus was for a smaller 4.6% drop in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Sales decreased in all four regions in January both sequentially and annually, according to NAR data.

"The decrease in sales is disappointing," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "The below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation this January make it harder than usual to assess the underlying driver of the decrease and determine if this month's numbers are an aberration."

Nationally, single-family home sales slid 9% month over month to 3.53 million units last month, while condominium and co-op sales dropped 2.6% to 380,000 units.

Median existing-home sales price rose 0.9% year over year to $396,800 in January, marking the 31st straight month of annual price gains, the NAR said. Yun attributed the latest price increase to low supply.

Housing is the most affordable it has been since March 2022, according to NAR's housing affordability index, which showed that affordability improved for the seventh straight month.

"This is due to wage gains outpacing home price growth and mortgage rates being lower than a year ago," Yun said. "However, supply has not kept pace and remains quite low."

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.10% last month from 6.19% in December and 6.96% a year earlier, NAR said, citing Freddie Mac data.

"Although the US economy is generally holding up well, rate-sensitive sectors -- like housing -- remain under pressure," BMO Capital Markets Senior Economist Priscilla Thiagamoorthy said in a report published Thursday. "While President (Donald) Trump has mulled over some housing affordability measures, market conditions will likely stay subdued unless prices come down and/or mortgage rates drop further."

Last month, Trump said he was taking steps to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes in a bid to make homeownership affordable.

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