Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pending home sales in January decreased by 0.8% from the prior month and 0.4% year-over-year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Pending Home Sales Report. The Report provides the real estate ecosystem—including agents and homebuyers and sellers—with data on the level of home sales under contract.
Month-over-month pending home sales rose in the Midwest and West, and declined in the Northeast and South. Year-over-year pending home sales rose in the South and West and declined in the Northeast and Midwest.
“Improving affordability conditions have yet to induce more buying activity,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. 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. Most newly qualifying households do not act immediately, but based on past experience, about 10% could enter the market—potentially adding roughly 550,000 new homebuyers this year compared with last year.”
“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. Fortunately, the House of Representatives recently passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act with strong bipartisan support, an important signal that addressing the nation’s housing shortage remains a shared priority. The legislation is a meaningful step toward expanding housing supply and removing barriers that make it harder for Americans to achieve homeownership,” Yun added.
January 2026 National Pending Home Sales
- 0.8% decrease month-over-month
- 0.4% decrease year-over-year
January 2026 Regional Pending Home Sales
Northeast
- 5.7% decrease month-over-month
- 8.3% decrease year-over-year
Midwest
- 5.0% increase month-over-month
- 3.3% decrease year-over-year
South
- 4.5% decrease month-over-month
- 4.0% increase year-over-year
West
- 4.3% increase month-over-month
- 0.3% increase year-over-year
While national pending home sales fell slightly in January, several local markets are showing notable year-over-year gains. Among the 50 largest metro areas, the following 10 markets posted the biggest annual increases in pending home sales, according to data from Realtor.com® Economics:
- Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ (+11.8%)
- Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA-NH (+10.7%)
- Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC-SC (+10.7%)
- San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont, CA (+8.9%)
- Oklahoma City, OK (+8.7%)
- St. Louis, MO-IL (+8.0%)
- Virginia Beach–Chesapeake–Norfolk, VA-NC (+7.6%)
- San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad, CA (+7.5%)
- San Antonio–New Braunfels, TX (+7.4%)
- Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL (+6.8%)
About the National Association of REALTORS®
The National Association of REALTORS® is involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes – from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation – visit facts.realtor.
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*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
Pending contracts are good early indicators of upcoming sales closings. However, the amount of time between pending contracts and completed sales is not identical for all home sales. Variations in the length of the process from pending contract to closed sale can be caused by issues such as buyer difficulties with obtaining mortgage financing, home inspection problems, or appraisal issues.
The index is based on a sample that covers about 40% of multiple listing service data each month. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.
NOTE: Existing-Home Sales for February will be reported on March 10. The next Pending Home Sales Index will be released on March 17. All release times are 10 a.m. Eastern. View the NAR Statistical News Release Schedule.
Information about NAR is available at nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom at nar.realtor/newsroom. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the “Research and Statistics” tab.
National Association of Realtors® media@nar.realtor
