Pending Home Sales Dip Slightly in January
U.S. pending home sales decreased by 0.8% in January compared to the previous month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. On a year-over-year basis, the number of homes under contract was down 0.4%, indicating a slight cooling in market activity.
- NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun suggested that unusually cold temperatures and high precipitation in January made it difficult to determine the underlying reasons for the sales decrease and whether it was an anomaly. - Despite the sales dip, housing affordability actually improved for the seventh straight month, reaching its highest level since March 2022, according to NAR's Housing Affordability Index. This is attributed to wage gains outpacing home price growth and lower mortgage rates compared to a year ago. - The median price for an existing home rose 0.9% from the previous year to $396,800, a new record high for the month of January. A typical homeowner has accumulated an estimated $130,500 in housing wealth since January 2020. - Total housing inventory stood at 1.22 million units at the end of January, an increase of 3.4% from one year earlier but still below pre-pandemic levels. This represented a 3.7-month supply at the current sales pace. - The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was approximately 6.1% in January, which was the lowest it had been since late 2022. However, the Federal Reserve held rates steady in its January 2026 meeting after three consecutive cuts in late 2025. - For the metro area encompassing the user's location, Baltimore saw one of the largest year-over-year decreases in newly listed homes for sale in January, with a drop of 28.2%. - First-time homebuyers represented 31% of sales in January, an increase from both the previous month (29%) and the previous year (28%). - Properties typically remained on the market for 46 days in January, which is longer than the 39 days in December and 41 days in January of the prior year.
