Pending home sales in December fell by 9.3% from the prior month and 3% year over year, according to the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Report.
“The housing sector is not out of the woods yet,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “After several months of encouraging signs in pending contracts and closed sales, the December new contract figures have dampened the short-term outlook.”
The report provides the real estate ecosystem, which includes agents, homebuyers, and sellers, with data on the level of home sales under contract.
According to the report, month-over-month pending home sales declined in all four regions. Year-over-year pending home sales rose in the South and declined in the Northeast, Midwest and West, the report noted.
“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 said. “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.”
Closing Activity Rose in December
Yun noted that lower consumer enthusiasm might have had an impact.
“Data shows closing activity increased in December. However, 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,” he said.
December 2025 National Pending Home Sales
- 9.3% decrease month over month
- 3% decrease year over year
December 2025 Regional Pending Home Sales
Northeast
- 11% decrease month over month
- 3.6% decrease year over year
Midwest
- 14.9% decrease month over month
- 9.8% decrease year over year
South
- 4% decrease month over month
- 2% increase year over year
West
- 13.3% decrease month over month
- 5.1% decrease year over year
NAR noted that while national pending home sales dipped in December, several local markets are showing notable year-over-year gains. It said that among the 50 largest metro areas, these 10 markets posted the biggest annual increases in pending home sales, according to data from Realtor.com Economics:
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN (+23.8%)
- San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX (+13.6%)
- Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk, VA-NC (+11.0%)
- Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC-SC (+9.7%)
- Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA-NH (+9.2%)
- Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ (+8.7%)
- Oklahoma City, OK (+8.0%)
- Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL (+6.3%)
- Pittsburgh, PA (+5.8%)
- Memphis, TN-MS-AR (+4.7%)
The Realtors Confidence Index (RCI) survey gathers information from Realtors about local market conditions based on their client interactions and the characteristics of their most recent sales for the month. The RCI reflects closed sales activity for December.
According to NAR, the findings from the latest RCI report include:
- 39 days: Median time on market for properties, up from 36 days last month and 35 days in December 2024.
- 29% of sales were first-time homebuyers, down from 30% last month and 31% in December 2024.
- 28% of transactions were cash sales, up from 27% a month ago and unchanged from December 2024.
- 18% of transactions were individual investors or second-home buyers, unchanged from last month and up from 16% in December 2024.
- 2% of sales were distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), unchanged from a month ago and December 2024.
- 31% of NAR members expect an increase in buyer traffic over the next three months, up from 22% last month and 27% one year ago.
- 28% expect an increase in seller traffic, up from 18% last month and 27% one year ago.
The post NAR Pending Home Sales Report Reveals 9.3% Decline in December first appeared on The MortgagePoint.
