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US pending home sales drop unexpectedly; supply stalls
United States pending home sales fell 0.8% in January amid insufficient supply growth, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR’s pending home sales index declined to 70.9, despite Reuters-polled economists projecting a monthly increase of 1.3%. Pending sales also dropped 0.4% year-over-year in January. “Improving affordability conditions have yet to induce more buying activity,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “With mortgage rates nearing 6%, an additional 5.5 million households that could not qualify for a mortgage one year ago would qualify at today’s lower rates.” “Unless housing supply increases, these additional potential buyers becoming active in the market could simply push up home prices. This will put increasing pressure on affordability, which is why it is critical to increase supply by building more homes.” The Northeast saw the largest decrease in pending sales, down 5.7% on a monthly basis. Pending sales in the South also dropped 4.5%, while the Midwest and West reported increases of 5% and 4.3%, respectively. JPMorgan forecast last month that home prices would remain flat across 2026, saying that rising demand from low mortgage rates would be countered by stalling growth in
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Regional home price growth outpaces capital cities
Regional dwellings have surpassed capital cities, with dwelling values growing 3.2% in the three months to January compared to a 2.1% rise across the combined capitals. The results mark a shift in market momentum as affordability, renewed internal migration and competitive conditions direct more buyers towards regional areas. According to Cotality, regional value growth has gathered pace since the previous quarter, while capital city markets have slowed from 3.3% Almost three in five of the country’s largest regional Significant Urban Areas (SUAs) recorded a faster pace of growth than the October reading, underscoring the breadth of the upswing. Cotality head of research for Australia, Gerard Burg, said the results indicate a deepening divergence between city and regional markets. He also said that affordability remains a key driver of buyer behaviour. “With capital city prices still near record highs and stock levels tight, many households are once again looking to regional Australia for greater value and liveability,” Burg said. “We’re seeing momentum build across a wide range of regional markets, from inland hubs to coastal centres and mining adjacent regions.” “This reflects a renewed movement of people
Reports
US existing home sales fall to 2yr low in January
United States existing home sales fell 8.4% to a two-year low in January, though affordability improved as mortgage rates declined. January’s seasonally-adjusted annual sales rate was 3.91 million, per the National Association of Realtors (NAR), representing a 4.4% year-over-year decrease. Economists had expected 4.18 million units. "The decrease in sales is disappointing. The below-normal temperatures and above-normal precipitation this January make it harder than usual to assess the underlying driver of the decrease and determine if this month’s numbers are an aberration,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Affordability conditions are improving, with NAR’s Housing Affordability Index showing that housing is the most affordable it’s been since March 2022. This is due to wage gains outpacing home price growth and mortgage rates being lower than a year ago. However, supply has not kept pace and remains quite low.” Sales dropped across all regions, with the West seeing the largest decrease at 10.3%. The West was the only region to report a year-over-year decline in median housing prices, but NAR’s Housing Affordability Index improved in all regions. Median housing prices rose 0.9% nationally from January 2025, r
Reports
House prices hit an all time high in the Hamptons
House prices in the mega-popular Hamptons area of New York have hit an all-time high. A new report Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel found that in the fourth quarter, the median house sale price for the Hamptons reached US$2.34 million, an increase of 34% year-on-year. Sales above $5 million were also the highest on record. The Hamptons, a coastal area past Long Island, is a hotspot for the rich and famous to holiday, with this latest sales boost coming from hedge funders, and those with tech wealth, according to real estate brokers. Real estate brokers also reported that the Hampton's rental market for this year is going strong as well, with many holidaymakers opting to do annual leases of a beachside property, rather than outright buying.
Reports
Australian dwelling approvals down 14.9% in December
Australian dwelling approvals dropped by 14.9% in December, weighed down by plunging approvals for apartments. The total seasonally-adjusted number of dwellings approved fell to 15,542 in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today. Despite the monthly decline, this is an 0.4% rise year-over-year. “The drop in total dwellings was driven by a 29.8 per cent fall in approvals for private dwellings excluding houses. This follows a 29.6 per cent rise in this series in November,” said ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi. “'While the fall in December was large, it came off the back of last month which had the highest number of private sector dwellings excluding houses approved since June 2018.” Private sector house construction approvals were 9,487, up 0.4% month-over-month and 5.7% from the previous year. Approvals for private dwellings excluding houses were 5,855, which was also a 6.1% drop from one year prior. This includes apartments, townhouses, terrace houses, and semi-detached houses. Apartment approvals fell 37.6% to 3,740, 14% lower than the 12-month average, after surging 63.7% in November. This was largely due to Victoria, where just 339 apartments were approved in December, co

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Cotality: AU property market confidence stays high
Confidence in the Australian housing market remains strong entering 2026, despite moods splitting across state lines on aspects like affordability and interest rates. According to Cotality’s Decoding 2026 report, which gathered responses from real estate agents and financial professionals across property finance sectors, found 87% of respondents expect dwelling value to rise over the next year, while only 3.5% anticipate a fall in prices. Almost half expect growth above 5%, highlighting the continued market optimism after widespread price gains through 2025. Cotality’s Home Value Index showed housing values increased in every capital city and regional market last year. In 2025, national dwelling values rose 8.6% and added around A$71,400 to the median value. Cotality Australia research director Tim Lawless said while housing conditions were strong in 2025, momentum slowed at the end of the year as affordability pressures intensified and interest rate expectations shifted. “Housing conditions were strong through most of 2025, which explains the broadly positive sentiment,” he said. “However, national averages distort the variation of performances and market conditions at a local level, and it’s those difference
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Australian property prices: end-of-year round up
Australian property values reached a four year high in 2025 but December saw a sluggish end to the year. New numbers from Cotality found that 2025 was the strongest calendar year gain in Australian home values since 2021 when prices were lifted 24.5% by record purchasing activity and emergency low interest rates amidst the COVID pandemic. Year-over-year price growth for 2025 at the peak was 8.6%, but on a monthly basis December showed signs of slowing. Regional markets fared better than the combined capital cities with gains of 9.7% compared with 8.2% as Sydney and Melbourne posted declines in December. The outlook for 2026 is more cautious with inflation, higher interest rates and affordability concerns expected.
Reports
US housing prices post slowest annual rise in 13yrs
House prices in the United States grew at their slowest annual rate in over 13 years in October. New government data, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on Tuesday, found this slower rise landed at 1.7% for the month of October, compared to the same time last year. This was the smallest annual price rise since 2012, post-global financial crisis. Additionally, on a monthly basis, October saw an increase of 0.4%. It is a step in the direction of improved affordability for the struggling housing market in the United States.
Reports
Domain: Income needed to rent in capitals rising
Renting a house in Australia’s capital cities increasingly requires an income above A$100,000 as rents rise faster than wages, according to a Domain report. The income needed to rent a typical capital city house has increased 51% to $112,667 over the past six years, the report found. Individual average annual wages are $80,200. “Australia enters 2026 with renters facing a widening gap between the suburbs they aspire to live in and the incomes required to secure them. Rents have risen faster than wages across every capital city, vacancy rates remain critically low, and location has become the defining driver of affordability, lifestyle and choice,” according to the report. The annual income needed to rent a median-priced house without spending more than 30% of earnings on rent is now above $100,000 in every capital city, with Sydney leading at $135,200. Melbourne and Hobart have the lowest required income, both at $100,533. The share of income a two-person household earning average wages would spend on renting a house has risen in all capital cities except Hobart since 2019, and is now at 21.1%. Sydney’s share is the highest at 24.5% of income, while Perth has seen the largest increase from 13.9% to 21.8%. Price diff