Existing-home sales increased by 5.1% in December, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Existing-Home Sales Report. Month-over-month sales increased in all regions. Year-over-year sales increased in the South, remained flat in the Midwest and West, and decreased in the Northeast.
Total Existing-Home Sales for December
5.1% increase in existing-home sales month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million.
1.4% increase in sales year over year.
Inventory in December
1.18 million units: Total housing inventory, down 18.1% from November and up 3.5% from December 2024 (1.14 million).
3.3-month supply of unsold inventory, down from 4.2 months in November and up from 3.2 months in December 2024.
Median Sales Price in December
$405,400: Median existing-home price for all housing types, up 0.4% from one year ago ($403,700) – the 30th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
On January 29 Washington Realtors® will meet with legislators to discuss the challenges REALTORS® and consumers are facing in today’s market. We are excited to be the key to advancing pro-housing policy and supporting transparent homeownership in Washington!
A Hot Topic: Ensuring Public Marketing of Residential Housing Opportunities
Over the past 5 years, Washington REALTORS® has focused on making Washington the most consumer-friendly state in which to buy and sell real property. WR has supported a number of bills under that vision, and in 2026 we’re supporting another bill that will move us closer to this goal. The proposed legislation would require all listings to be marketed publicly and be available to all brokers. If passed, this legislation will promote transparency, fairness, and equal access in the residential real estate market.
This policy will ensure that the marketing of available housing, for sale or for rent, is provided to the public and real estate market, not solely to a limited or private group. A transparent real estate market is in the best interests of consumers, fair competition, and supports principles of fair housing.
The 2026 Washington State Legislative Session brings both opportunities and challenges for real estate and the broader business community. Here are a few more REALTOR® Legislative Priorities for the 2026 session:
Rural ADUs: This policy aims to create affordable housing options by allowing detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in rural areas, outside of the UGA, that can be built quickly and help toward relieving housing demand pressures.
Residential Uses in Commercial Zones: Allow residential uses in areas zoned for commercial or mixed use in cities with populations over 30,000, with exceptions to ensure protection of industrial lands or other areas inappropriate for residential use. Local governments cannot require conditional permits or impose design-related restrictions for residential development in these areas. This bill will help housing supply by allowing housing in underutilized commercial areas.
Incentivize Stacked Flat Condominium Construction: This bill builds on last year’s condominium legislation by allowing stacked flat building types of up to 4 floors and 12 units within the new 2-10 home warranty option, and by not requiring parking on the ground floor. This will allow an additional type of building to use the new 2-10 warranty process.
Do No Harm: Substantive budget and tax discussions are concerning as they relate to housing costs, and we ask that Legislators avoid policies that make housing and real estate more expensive. Examples would be REET increases (HB 1044 and HB 1867), B&O tax increases, or other excise tax proposals (HB 2258).
Washington REALTORS® has been approved for a disaster relief grant from NAR’s REALTORS® Relief Foundation to help those impacted by the recent flooding across western Washington.
These funds are available to ANY Washington resident whose primary residence was damaged — not just REALTORS®. Eligible applicants can receive housing assistance for temporary shelter, repairs, or mortgage relief.
This isn’t a scam! I’m a REALTOR® and voluntarily serving on the Washington REALTORS® Flood Relief Task Force to spread the news of these grant funds. Feel free to reach out with any questions!
The number of closed sales showed a slight year-over-year increase of 0.21%, up by 141 transactions compared to 2024’s total of 67,788. Total dollar volume also edged upward from just under $54.5 billion.
The median sales price for completed transactions reached $644,500, a 0.7% increase over 2024’s median of $640,000. For perspective, the median price in 2015 was $310,000, illustrating a decade of sustained home value growth. Homes sold for an average of 99.6% of the list price, reflecting a market that has gradually shifted away from the extremely competitive bidding conditions seen in earlier years.
Despite increased inventory, affordability constraints continued to weigh on market activity. Average active listings rose more than 34% compared to 2024, while new listings increased by only 8.9%, implying a longer time on the market for listings. As a result, sales transactions remained virtually unchanged, and median prices rose by less than 1%.
Listing Activity
When reviewing the overall inventory of all active listings, on average there were 16,007 active listings in the NWMLS database each month in 2025, a 34.4% increase from 2024’s average of 11,910.
Months of supply averaged 2.83 months, an improvement from the previous year’s 2.11 months, but still short of the 4–6 months typically associated with a balanced market. Inventory levels were lowest in March at 2.15 months and highest in September at 3.25 months.
Source: NWMLS 1/15/26
Feel free to contact me for more details and/or statistical graphs!
The housing market in December closely mirrored conditions seen in October and November, continuing a pattern of rising inventory and softening prices. Active listings increased 23% year over year, while prices declined by approximately 2% for the third consecutive month compared to the same period in 2024. Closed sales rose just 4% from December 2024, indicating that buyer activity has not kept pace with the increasing inventory.
Key Takeaways
Active Listings
The total number of properties listed for sale increased 23% year over year, with 11,718 active listings on the market at the end of December 2025, compared to 9,524 at the end of December 2024. Month over month, active inventory declined by 24.7% (3,839 listings), down from 15,557 in November 2025.
Closed Sales
Closed sales increased 4.1% year over year, with 5,010 transactions in December 2025 compared to 4,812 in December 2024. Month over month, sales rose 2.9% from 4,870 in November 2025.
Median Sales Price
The median sales price for residential homes and condominiums sold in December 2025 was $612,250, down 1.8% from December 2024 ($623,500). Month over month, the median price declined 2.8% from $630,000 in November 2025.
The counties with the highest median sales prices were San Juan ($900,000), King ($808,500), and Snohomish ($730,000), while the lowest median prices were recorded in Columbia ($237,500), Okanogan ($300,000), and Pacific ($365,000).
I’m so glad that Washington Realtors® is standing up for what is best for buyers and sellers!
“As an organization, Washington REALTORS® is committed to advocating for you – our members – and your clients. We are the leading advocates for homeownership, with a long-standing record of representing the interests of homebuyers, sellers, and property owners throughout the state through our legislative advocacy efforts. Our top public policy priority has consistently been to build communities that have a strong economy and attractive, affordable home choices.
Each legislative session, our government affairs team and legislative steering committee watch for proposed legislation that could impact REALTORS®, our clients, or the industry in our state. While there’s a lot to cover in this short session, there’s one key bill that we anticipate dropping next week that you will see a lot about in the coming weeks – a bill intended to promote equal access to housing by ensuring public availability of residential listings.”
In this video update, WR President Ryan Beckett and Annie Fitzsimmons walk through this bill and why Washington REALTORS® decided to support it: https://vimeo.com/1152370938/f0bd7de906
Stay tuned for updates, as WR Legislative Day is January 29, and we’ll be meeting with our Legislators from across the state in Olympia to advocate for this bill, as well as others.
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