December existing home sales hit three year high

The pace of existing home sales closed out 2025 on an upswing, according to data released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In December, the pace of existing home sales rose 5.1% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million. Year-over-year this represented a 1.4% increase in sales pace.

“2025 was another tough year for homebuyers, marked by record-high home prices and historically low home sales,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement. “However, in the fourth quarter, conditions began improving, with lower mortgage rates and slower home price growth. December home sales, after adjusting for seasonal factors, were the strongest in nearly three years.”

This increased sales pace did; however, take a bit of a toll on the level of unsold existing home sales inventory. Month-over-month, the level of unsold inventory dropped 18.1% in December to 1.18 million. Annually this represented a 3.5% increase in inventory. The current inventory level represents 3.3 months of supply at the current sales pace.

“Inventory levels remain tight,” Yun added. “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.”

December also marked the 30th consecutive month of median annual sales price increases, with the median sales price rising 0.4% annually to $405,400.

Regionally, the pace of existing home sales rose in all four regions month-over-month, with the Northeast (520,000 sales) and Midwest (1 million sales) both rising 2.0%, the South (2.02 million sales) jumping 6.9% and the West (810,000 sales) rising 6.6%. On a yearly basis, the pace of existing home sales was down 1.9% in the Northeast, up 3.6% in the South, and unchanged in the Midwest and West.