US Pending Home Sales Plunge in December

2026-01-21 15:14 By Joana Ferreira 1 min. read

US pending home sales fell sharply by 9.3% month over month in December 2025, the biggest drop since April 2020, reversing a 3.3% increase in November and far exceeding market expectations for a modest 0.3% decline.

The decline ended a four-month streak of gains and marked the steepest drop since April 2020, when the pandemic first hit demand, underscoring that the US housing market remains under pressure.

Declines were recorded across all four regions, led by the Midwest (-14.9%) and the West (-13.3%), followed by the Northeast (-11.0%) and the South (-4.0%).

On a year-over-year basis, pending home sales were down 3.0%.

Commenting on the data, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said that although home closings rose in December, new listings did not keep up, pushing inventory lower.

With fewer homes available, buyers were less willing to commit, likely contributing to the drop in pending home sales.



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