Will the housing market slump drag into a fifth year?

The U.S. housing market slump dragged into its fourth year in 2025 as sales remained stuck at a 30-year low with rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates keeping many prospective home shoppers out of the market.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes totaled 4.06 million last year, essentially flat versus 2024 when sales sank to the lowest level since 1995, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Without rounding the figures, sales last year were slightly lower than in 2024.

All told, existing U.S. home sales have declined on an annual basis since 2022.

The median national home price for 2025 rose 1.7% to $414,400, the NAR says.

Sales have been stuck close to a 4 million annual pace going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2 million annual pace that’s historically been the norm.

Though 2025 was a tough year for homebuyers, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says conditions began improving in the fourth quarter with lower mortgage rates and slower home price growth.

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