by Contract signings also declined from November, falling in all 4 regions of the US
WASHINGTON — The National Association of Realtors has reported a drop in December pending home sales compared with November and the same month a year earlier.
Showing a higher-than-normal drop in year-end activity based on existing homes under contract, the NAR said that pending home sales fell 3% from December 2024 and 9.3% from November.
The report noted that year-over-year activity fell in the Northeast, Midwest and West, but rose in the South, while month-over-month activity fell in all four regions.
“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.”
What this means for furniture sales remains to be seen, although any decline in housing activity will likely delay spending on new furniture at the start of the year.
A bright spot is that actual closings rose in December, Yun said, noting that “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.”
By region, pending home sales activity was as follows:
In the Northeast, there was a 3.6% decrease from December 2024 and an 11% drop from November.
In the Midwest, there was a 9.8% decrease from December 2024 and a 14.9% decrease from November.
In the South, there was a 2% increase from December 2024 and a 4% decrease from November.
In the West, there was a 5.1% decrease from December 2024 and a 13.3% decrease from November.
While national pending home sales declined overall in December, the NAR said that several local markets showed significant year-over-year gains. Among the 50 largest metro areas, the following 10 markets posted the biggest annual increases in pending home sales:
+ Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky (+23.8%)
+ San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX (+13.6%)
+ Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk, Virginia (+11.0%)
+ Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, North Carolina (+9.7%)
+ Boston–Cambridge–Newton, Massachusetts (+9.2%)
+ Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, Arizona (+8.7%)
+ Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (+8.0%)
+ Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, Florida (+6.3%)
+ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (+5.8%)
+ Memphis, Tennessee (+4.7%)
