Existing Home Sales During DECEMBER 2025

Existing Home Sales report for December, 2025 was released by The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR®) this morning:

======================

Previous Month: 4,140,000

• Actual: 4,350,000

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•  Change from Previous Month: +5.07% (+210,000 homes)
  
  
•  Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y): +1.4% (+60,000 homes)

======================

• Inventory: 1,180,000 homes.

(3.3 months supply | +40,000 [+3.51%] homes Y-o-Y.)

======================

The yellow-highlighted, "actual" figure above represents the preliminary, seasonally adjusted annualized sales count of existing homes, co-ops and condominiums for the indicated month. The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

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• Median Price: $405,400
  
  
• Price Change from A Year Ago: +0.42% (+$1,700)

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==========

• Click Here for Historical Prices and a Chart.
  
  
• Click Here for New Home Sales Data.
  
  
• Click Here for the monthly New Home Sales report.

==========

From Today's Report:

"...'2025 was another tough year for homebuyers, marked by record-high home prices and historically low home sales,' said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. 'However, in the fourth quarter, conditions began improving, with lower mortgage rates and slower home price growth. December home sales, after adjusting for seasonal factors, were the strongest in nearly three years. The gains were broad-based, with all four major regions improving from the prior month.'

'Inventory levels remain tight,' Yun added. 'With fewer sellers feeling eager to move, homeowners are taking their time deciding when to list or delist their homes. Similar to past years, more inventory is expected to come to market beginning in February.'..."

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INFOGRAPHIC: Existing Home Sales

DECEMBER 2025 UPDATE
(Copyright © 2026 REALTORS®)

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• Click here to view the NAR® data.

==================

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New Home Sales During OCTOBER 2025

The October, 2025 New Home Sales report was released by the Commerce Department this morning:

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Previous Month (unrevised): 738,000

• Actual New Home Sales: 737,000

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• Change from 1-Month Previous: -1,000 units (-0.14%)
  
  
• Change from 1-Year Previous: +116,000 units (+18.68%)

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Median Price for a New Home
During October, 2025: $392,300

• Change from One-Year Previous: -$34,000 (-7.98%)

 ***************************

Average Price for a New Home
During October, 2025: $498,000

• Change from One-Year Previous: -$23,900 (-4.58%)

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Inventory: 488,000 (+8,000 units / +1.67% Year-on-Year)

• 7.9 months supply at current sales rate; seasonally‐adjusted estimate.

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CHART: Cost of A Newly Built Home
OCTOBER 2025 Update

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• CHART: Cost of A Newly Built Home.
  
  
• Click Here for Existing Home Sales Prices and a Chart.
  
  
• Click Here for The Monthly Existing Home Sales Report.

================================

Compiled jointly by the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the yellow-highlighted figure above is the seasonally adjusted and annualized number of newly-built homes with committed buyers for the indicated month.

The New Home Sales report is watched by economists and investors because it offers insight into the state of the U.S. housing market, and also provides data that can be used to predict sales of large household furniture and appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, etc.

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• Click here to view the full Commerce Department report (PDF)
  
  

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Consumer Sentiment: PRELIMINARY Results for JANUARY 2026

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) - PRELIMINARY Results for January, 2026 was released today:

Predicted: 52.0

• Actual: 54.0

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• Change from Previous Month: +2.08% (+1.1 points)
  
  

• Change from 12-Months Previous: -24.69% (-17.7 points)

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• Final ICS Reading for December, 2025: 52.9
  
  
• Final ICS Reading for January, 2025: 71.7

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From Today's Report:

"...Consumer sentiment inched up for the second straight month and reached its highest reading since September 2025. Improvements in January were seen among lower-income consumers, while sentiment fell for those with higher incomes.

All told, while consumers perceived some modest improvement in the economy over the past two months, their sentiment remains nearly 25% below last January’s reading.

They continue to be focused primarily on kitchen table issues, like high prices and softening labor markets.

Although consumers’ worries about tariffs appear to be gradually receding, they remain guarded about the overall strength of business conditions and labor markets.

Note that more than 90% of interviews for this release were collected prior to the capture of Maduro in Venezuela.

Year-ahead inflation expectations held steady in January at 4.2%. This is the lowest reading since January 2025 but remains well above that month’s 3.3%.

Long-run inflation expectations ticked up slightly from 3.2% in December to 3.4% this month. In comparison, readings ranged between 2.8 and 3.2% in 2024, and were below 2.8% throughout 2019 and 2020..."

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CHART: Over The Past Year, College-Educated Consumers
Report Higher Likelihood of Own Job
 Loss than Less-Educated Counterparts

JANUARY 2026 UPDATE

 =========

The ICS is derived from the following five survey questions:

1. "We are interested in how people are getting along financially these days. Would you say that you (and your family living there) are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?"
   
   
2. "Now looking ahead, do you think that a year from now you (and your family living there) will be better off financially, or worse off, or just about the same as now?"
   
   
3. "Now turning to business conditions in the country as a whole, do you think that during the next twelve months we'll have good times financially, or bad times, or what?"
   
   
4. "Looking ahead, which would you say is more likely: that in the country as a whole we'll have continuous good times during the next five years or so, or that we will have periods of widespread unemployment or depression, or what?"
   
   
5. "About the big things people buy for their homes, such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and things like that. Generally speaking, do you think now is a good or bad time for people to buy major household items?"
   

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• Click here for more on how the ICS is calculated.

=========

The ICS uses a 1966 baseline, i.e. for 1966, the ICS = 100. So any number that is below the 1966 baseline of 100 means that the folks who were polled recently aren't as optimistic about the U.S. economy as those polled back in 1966.

The ICS is similar to the Consumer Confidence Index in that they both measure consumer attitudes and offer valuable insight into consumer spending.

=========

The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

=========

• Click here to view the full University of Michigan report.

=========

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Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for DECEMBER 2025

Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) for this month (December, 2025) was released by The Conference Board®:

================

Predicted: 92.0

• Actual: 89.1

================

Previous Month (revised): 92.9

• Change from Previous Month: -4.09% (-3.8 point)
  

================

The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

From Today's Report:

"...'Despite an upward revision in November related to the end of the shutdown, consumer confidence fell again in December and remained well below this year’s January peak. Four of five components of the overall index fell, while one was at a level signaling notable weakness,' said  Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board.

The Present Situation Index declined as net views on current business conditions were negative for the first time since September 2024, a month that included a labor market scare and deadly hurricanes. Perceptions of employment conditions edged lower as the labor market differential -- the share of consumers saying jobs are ‘plentiful’ minus the share saying jobs are ‘hard to get’ -- continued to flag. Two of the three Expectations Index components dipped in December. November’s nosedive in expectations for business conditions six months from now mostly reversed in December but remained negative. Expectations for labor market conditions were gloomier, and the outlook for household incomes was less positive.

Among demographic groups, on a six-month moving average basis, confidence dipped among all age groups in December, although consumers under 35 continued to be more confident than consumers age 35 and older. There were few generational differences, as confidence among all generations trended downward in the month, with only the Silent Generation becoming more hopeful. Millennials and Gen Z remained the most optimistic of all generations surveyed. By income, confidence on a six-month moving average basis fell for nearly all brackets, except for those earning less than $15K and more than $125K. Still, consumers earning less than $15K remained the least optimistic among all income groups. Confidence continued to fall in December among all political affiliations (Democrats, Republicans, and Independents).

Peterson added: 'Consumers’ write-in responses on factors affecting the economy continued to be led by references to prices and income, tariffs and trade, and politics. However, December saw increases in mentions of immigration, war, and topics related to personal finances -- including interest rates, taxes and income, banks, and insurance. The responses continued to skew pessimistic but less so than November, potentially due to fewer negative comments about prices and inflation, politics, as well as a rebound in positive responses about interest rates. Notably, the Federal Reserve Board cut monetary policy rates on December 10 for a third time in 2025, which landed in the second half of the survey sample interval.'

Nonetheless, the share of consumers expecting interest rates to rise were on net higher, with a drop in the proportion expecting lower rates. Consumers’ median and average 12-month inflation expectations both retreated in December after an uptick in November. The balance of consumers’ expectations for stock prices twelve months from now -- higher minus lower -- was the most positive since January 2025..."

================

Every month, The Conference Board sends a questionnaire to 5,000 U.S. households. Survey participants are polled about their feelings regarding the U.S. economy, current and future, and about their own fiscal circumstances. On average, 3,500 participants complete and return the 5-question survey.

• The baseline "100" score for the CCI is associated with 1985 survey data.

When consumers feel good about the economy, they tend to do more spending, and vice versa.

Based in New York City, The Conference Board® is a private, not-for-profit organization with a mission to, "create and disseminate knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses strengthen their performance and better serve society."

The CCI is usually released on the last Tuesday of the month.

================  

CHART: Consumer Confidence Index (CCI)

DECEMBER 2025 Update

========================================

• Click here to view the full Conference Board report.

========================================= 

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A "For Food" Payment Request Scam Attempt on Cash.APP®

www.FedPrimeRate.com: "For Food"
Payment Request Scam
Attempt on Cash.APP®

Here's a first: Someone trying to scam me via Cash APP®.

$25.00 for food, for someone with the name Chivo Valluco. Fake name?  Sounds pretty darn fake to me! 😏

It was just a matter of time, since my business Cash App ID ($cashtag) is visible on the Internet, for all to see.

Blocking the scammer was a quick and easy.

Some of these Cash.APP scams are very crafty and sophisticated.  Here's a clip from a Forbes® article:

"...Sometimes, they even send money to the Cash App user and then say it was an accident. Then they ask for a refund, but the money was initially sent from a hacked or stolen account. The user sends back the money, but now they're left with the headache of dealing with the original fraud...."

Yikes! #Beware! 😓

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Consumer Sentiment: FINAL Results for DECEMBER 2025

The University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) - FINAL Results for December, 2025 was released today:

Predicted: 53.0

• Actual: 52.9

=========

• Change from Previous Month: +3.73% (+1.9 points)
  
  

• Change from 12-Months Previous: -28.51% (-21.1 points)

=========

• Final ICS Reading for November 2025: 51.0
  
  
• Final ICS Reading for December 2024: 74.0

=========

From Today's Report:

"...Consumer sentiment confirmed its early month reading, inching up less than two index points from November, within the margin of error. While lower-income consumers posted gains, sentiment for higher-income  consumers was little changed. Buying conditions for durable goods fell for the fifth straight month, whereas expectations for personal finances and business conditions rose in December. Labor market expectations lifted a bit this month, though a solid majority of 63% of consumers still expects unemployment to continue rising during the next year. Despite some signs of improvement to close out the year, sentiment remains nearly 30% below December 2024, as pocketbook issues continue to dominate consumer views of the economy.

Year-ahead inflation expectations decreased for the fourth consecutive month to 4.2%. This is the lowest reading in 11 months but is still above the 3.3% seen in January. Long-run inflation expectations eased from 3.4% last month to 3.2% in December, matching the January 2025 reading. In comparison, readings ranged between 2.8 and 3.2% last year, and were below 2.8% throughout 2019 and 2020..."

=========

CHART: Post-Pandemic Frustration
 with High Prices Persists Even
When Inflation Expectations Soften
 =========

The ICS is derived from the following five survey questions:

1. "We are interested in how people are getting along financially these days. Would you say that you (and your family living there) are better off or worse off financially than you were a year ago?"
   
   
2. "Now looking ahead, do you think that a year from now you (and your family living there) will be better off financially, or worse off, or just about the same as now?"
   
   
3. "Now turning to business conditions in the country as a whole, do you think that during the next twelve months we'll have good times financially, or bad times, or what?"
   
   
4. "Looking ahead, which would you say is more likely: that in the country as a whole we'll have continuous good times during the next five years or so, or that we will have periods of widespread unemployment or depression, or what?"
   
   
5. "About the big things people buy for their homes, such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and things like that. Generally speaking, do you think now is a good or bad time for people to buy major household items?"
   

=========

• Click here for more on how the ICS is calculated.

=========

The ICS uses a 1966 baseline, i.e. for 1966, the ICS = 100. So any number that is below the 1966 baseline of 100 means that the folks who were polled recently aren't as optimistic about the U.S. economy as those polled back in 1966.

The ICS is similar to the Consumer Confidence Index in that they both measure consumer attitudes and offer valuable insight into consumer spending.

=========

The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

=========

• Click here to view the full University of Michigan report.

=========

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Existing Home Sales During NOVEMBER 2025

Existing Home Sales report for November 2025 was released by The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR®) this morning:

======================

Previous Month: 4,110,000

• Actual: 4,130,000

======================

•  Change from Previous Month: +0.49% (+20,000 homes)
  
  
•  Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y): -0.96% (-40,000 homes)

======================

• Inventory: 1,430,000 homes.

(4.2 months supply | +100,000 [+7.52%] homes Y-o-Y.)

======================

The yellow-highlighted, "actual" figure above represents the preliminary, seasonally adjusted annualized sales count of existing homes, co-ops and condominiums for the indicated month. The "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

------------------------------------------------------

• Median Price: $409,200
  
  
• Price Change from A Year Ago: +1.19% (+$4,800)

------------------------------------------------------ 

==========

• Click Here for Historical Prices and a Chart.
  
  
• Click Here for New Home Sales Data.
  
  
• Click Here for the monthly New Home Sales report.

==========

From Today's Report:

"...'Existing-home sales increased for the third straight month due to lower mortgage rates this autumn,' said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. 'However, inventory growth is beginning to stall. With distressed property sales at historic lows and housing wealth at an all-time high, homeowners are in no rush to list their properties during the winter months.'

'Wage growth is outpacing home price gains, which improves housing affordability. Still, future affordability could be hampered if housing supply fails to keep pace with demand,' Yun added.

'As has been the case throughout the year, single-family home sales outperformed condominium sales in November. The typical price of a sold condo was 13.5% lower than the typical price of a single-family home. However, the purchase price does not include the condominium association fees, which are rising and making these purchases more expensive.'..."

==================

INFOGRAPHIC: Existing Home Sales

NOVEMBER 2025 UPDATE
(Copyright © 2025 REALTORS®)

==================

==================

• Click here to view the NAR® data.

==================

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