Existing-home sales increased by 1.7% month-over-month in February, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Existing-Home Sales Report.

Month-over-month sales rose in the Midwest, South and West, and fell in the Northeast. Year-over-year sales rose in the South and fell in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

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. This marks the highest level since March 2022.

“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.”

“Despite the modest gain in home sales, actual housing demand remains muted relative to wage growth and job gains,” Yun continued. “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.”

Month-Over-Month

• 1.7% increase in existing-home sales—seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in February
• 2.4% increase in unsold inventory—1.29 million units equal to 3.8 months’ supply

Year-Over-Year

• 1.4% decrease in existing-home sales
• 0.3% increase in median existing-home sales price to $398,000

Read more details, including regional data, here…

Source: National Association of REALTORS® 3/10/26