Kevin Sears President | Official website
Existing-home sales in the United States fell by 8.4% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Existing-Home Sales Report released on February 12, 2026. This decline was observed both month over month and year over year, with a 4.4% decrease compared to January of the previous year.
All regions across the country experienced decreases in sales during this period. The report also showed that unsold inventory declined by 0.8% from December to reach 1.22 million units, which represents a 3.7-month supply.
NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun commented on the data: "The decrease in sales is disappointing. 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,” he said. “Affordability conditions are improving, with NAR’s Housing Affordability Index showing that housing is the most affordable it’s been since March 2022. This is due to wage gains outpacing home price growth and mortgage rates being lower than a year ago. However, supply has not kept pace and remains quite low.”
Yun added: "Due to low supply, the median home price reached a new high for the month of January. Homeowners are in a financially comfortable position as a result. Since January 2020, a typical homeowner would have accumulated $130,500 in housing wealth."
The NAR’s Housing Affordability Index rose for the seventh consecutive month, reaching 116.5 in January from 111.6 in December and up from 102 one year earlier.
In terms of prices, the national median existing-home sales price increased by 0.9% year over year to $396,800—marking the thirty-first straight month of such increases.
Single-family home sales decreased by 9% from December to an annual rate of 3.53 million units, while condominium and co-op sales dropped by 2.6%. Median prices were $400,300 for single-family homes (up 0.6% from last year) and $364,600 for condos/co-ops (up 3.8%).
Regional breakdowns show declines across all areas:
- Northeast: Sales fell by 5.9% month over month; median price rose by 5.8%.
- Midwest: Sales down by 7.1%; median price up by 2.3%.
- South: Sales decreased by 9%; median price up slightly.
- West: Sales declined by more than ten percent; median price dropped slightly.
Other metrics from NAR’s REALTORS Confidence Index show that properties spent a median of forty-six days on market in January—longer than both last month and one year ago—and first-time buyers accounted for thirty-one percent of transactions.
Mortgage rates also trended downward compared with previous periods; Freddie Mac reported an average thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage at six-point-one percent for January.
The National Association of Realtors is recognized as a leading trade association within real estate with its headquarters based in Chicago and an office in Washington D.C., supporting around twelve hundred local boards and fifty-four state and territorial associations according to its official website. The organization works toward empowering professionals across residential and commercial sectors through resources like research, statistics, advocacy efforts, education programs, news updates, and guidance on ethical standards (source). It actively supports diversity and inclusion within its membership (source), promotes property rights protection (source), delivers industry insights (source), and advances members’ interests at various levels (source).
Upcoming releases include NAR's Pending Home Sales Index for January on February 19th and Existing-Home Sales for February on March 10th.
