United States pending home sales fell by 9.3% in December amid a slump in inventory, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Pending sales dropped across all regions during the month, and were also down 3.3% year-over-year.
“The housing sector is not out of the woods yet,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “After several months of encouraging signs in pending contracts and closed sales, the December new contract figures have dampened the short-term outlook.”
“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,” said Yun. “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.”
Inventory levels in December were at 1.18 million homes, falling 9% from November to equal 2025’s lowest levels. While closing activity rose during the month, new listings slumped.
“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,” said Yun.
Pending sales fell by 11% in the Northeast, 14.9% in the Midwest, and 13.3% in the West last month. The South saw the smallest decrease at 4%, and was the only region to report year-over-year growth.
Properties spent 39 days on the market on average last month, the NAR said in a separate report. This is an increase from 36 days in November and 35 days in December 2024.
