NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increased to 4.35 million SAAR in December; Lowest Annual Sales since 1995
Median House Prices Increased 0.4% Year-over-Year
From the NAR: NAR Existing-Home Sales Report Shows 5.1% Increase in December
Month-over-month
• 5.1% increase in existing-home sales – seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million in December
• 18.1% decrease in unsold inventory – 1.18 million units equal to 3.3 months’ supply
Year-over-year
• 1.4% decrease in existing-home sales
• 0.4% increase in median existing-home sales price to $405,400
emphasis added
Note: The NAR data shows sales were up 1.4% year-over-year compared to December 2024 (I think the press release has a typo).
This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1994.
Sales in December (4.35 million SAAR) were up 5.1% from the previous month and were up 1.4% compared to the December 2024 sales rate. This was the highest sales rate for the year. Sales have been very low for the last 3 years.
Housing Inventory Decreased Sharply in December
The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.
According to the NAR, inventory decreased to 1.18 million in December from 1.44 million the previous month.
Headline inventory is not seasonally adjusted, and inventory usually decreases to the seasonal lows in December and January, and peaks in mid-to-late summer. The third graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.
Inventory was up 3.5% year-over-year (blue) in December compared to December 2024. Months of supply (red) decreased to 3.3 months in December from 4.2 months the previous month.
Looking back to pre-pandemic levels, in December 2019 months-of-supply was at 3.0 months, so there is more supply now, on a months-of-supply basis, than prior to the pandemic! Even though inventory is still down compared to 2019, sales have fallen even more - pushing up months-of-supply.
Sales Year-over-Year and Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA)
The fourth graph shows existing home sales by month for 2024 and 2025.
Sales were up 1.4% year-over-year compared to December 2024.
The following content is for paid subscribers only. Thanks to all paid subscribers!