Pending home sales and existing-home sales posted both annual and monthly declines for January, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. NAR said Thursday that pending sales declined 0.8% from the previous month and 0.4% year over year. Last week, the association cited an 8.4% decline in existing-home sales compared to December 2025 and a 4.4% drop year over year.
Month-over-month pending home sales rose in the Midwest and West, while declining in the Northeast and South. Y-O-Y pending home sales rose in the South and West and declined in the Northeast and Midwest.
“Improving affordability conditions have yet to induce more buying activity,” said NAR chief economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “With mortgage rates nearing 6%, an additional 5.5 million households that could not qualify for a mortgage one year ago would qualify at today’s lower rates. Most newly qualifying households do not act immediately, but based on past experience, about 10% could enter the market—potentially adding roughly 550,000 new homebuyers this year compared with last year.”
He added, “Unless housing supply increases, these additional potential buyers becoming active in the market could simply push up home prices. This will put increasing pressure on affordability, which is why it is critical to increase supply by building more homes.”
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