Existing-home sales rose by 1.7% month-over-month in February, according to the National Association of Realtors Existing-Home Sales Report.
“Housing affordability is improving, and consumers are responding,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “Still, there is a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels of transaction activity. There are more than 6 million more jobs than in 2019, yet home sales per year are down by one million.”
NAR said the report provides the real estate ecosystem—including agents, homebuyers, and sellers—with data on the level of home sales, price, and inventory.
Month-over-month sales rose in the Midwest, South and West, and fell in the Northeast, according to the report, year-over-year sales rose in the South and fell in the Northeast, Midwest and West.
Meanwhile, affordability improved for the eighth consecutive month, according to NAR’s Housing Affordability Index—increasing to 117.6 in February from 117.1 in January and 103.1 a year ago.
That marks the highest level since March 2022, NAR reported.
Inventory Sluggish, But Growing
“Despite the modest gain in home sales, actual housing demand remains muted relative to wage growth and job gains,” Yun said. “Wage growth is now outpacing home price growth by almost four percentage points. Mortgage rates are also measurably lower compared to a year ago.”
“Inventory is growing, but sluggishly,” he added. “If demand picks up notably in the coming months and outpaces supply growth, home prices will inevitably rise. That is why increasing supply is so important to help limit home price growth, improve housing affordability, and boost transactions.”
National Snapshot
Total Existing-Home Sales for February
- 1.7% increase in existing-home sales1 month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million.
- 1.4% decrease in sales year-over-year.
Inventory in February
1.29 million units: Total housing inventory2, up 2.4% from January and 4.9% from February 2025.
3.8-month supply of unsold inventory, unchanged from last month and up from 3.6 months one year ago.
Median Sales Price in February
$398,000: Median existing-home price3 for all housing types, up 0.3% from one year ago ($396,800)—the 32nd consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
Year-over-year, affordability improved across all regions.
- Northeast +10.0%
- Midwest +11.7%
- South +14.1%
- West +17.0%
Mortgage Rates
6.05%: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in February, according to Freddie Mac, down from 6.10% in January and 6.84% one year ago.
Analysts Comment on Report
Bankrate Housing Market Analyst Jeff Ostrowski said the report had positives.
“Home sales in January weren’t quite as bad as originally reported, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. While NAR last month reported sales fell to an annual pace of just 3.91 million deals in January 2026, revised numbers out today reflect an updated figure of 4.02 million. Meanwhile, February 2026 sales edged up to 4.09 million. For context, during the pandemic, home sales were well above 6 million a year, and a typical year before the pandemic saw more than 5 million sales,” Ostrowski said.
“Appreciation has slowed to a crawl, but existing home prices keep inching up, at least nationally. The median price of existing homes was $398,800, up 0.3% from February 2025 and a record high for the month of February,” Ostrowski said. “Homeowners aren’t eager to move. The mortgage rate lock-in effect remains in place, and soft prices in the Sun Belt have discouraged sellers from pulling their homes off the market. And first-time buyers aren’t feeling motivated to jump in.”
Ostrowski said that “The job market has slowed and affordability remains a challenge, especially for first-time buyers. Mortgage rates are at their lowest levels since 2022, which you’d think would motivate potential buyers. That hasn’t happened yet.”
Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant said sellers and buyers show little urgency.
“Even though there is pent-up demand in the market, there appears to be little urgency on the part of either buyers or sellers. While sales ticked up seasonally between January and February, economic uncertainty, and potentially winter weather kept more buyers from entering the market last month. A lack of inventory is also a constraint,” she said.
“The outlook for the spring homebuying season has become cloudier than it was even just a month ago. Despite mortgage rates falling below 6% briefly, international conflict has sent them higher in recent days. If the conflict with Iran is limited, the housing market could rebound quickly. However, a prolonged conflict could stall home sales activity this spring,” Sturtevant noted.
Panorama Mortgage Group President Hector Amendola noted the importance of inventory as a key driver for home sales.
“The biggest factor in home sales right now is inventory. When there aren’t enough homes on the market and inventory is tight, home prices remain higher. Coupled with low consumer confidence due to the job market and overall economic uncertainties, homebuyers aren’t eager to jump in the market,” he said.
“Interestingly, most experts are eager for interest rates to drop dramatically. But history tells us that when interest rates fall and waves of buyers rush to market to seize on the lower rates, without enough inventory, it becomes a simple supply and demand equation,” Amendola said. “The net impact of the lower rates without adequate inventory is a price surge because there is greater competition for the few available homes. Inventory is the critical factor impacting home sales for 2026.”
