United States Housing Market Update - January 2026

January’s national housing data showed more inventory and a slower sales pace, while list pricing was nearly unchanged from a year earlier. The historical CSV places the median list price at $399,900, down 0.15% year over year, with active inventory up 10.05% and new listings up 0.68%. Homes spent a median 78 days on the market, five days longer than in January 2025. The accompanying report described the inventory recovery as losing momentum relative to pre-pandemic norms, with conditions continuing to vary sharply by region.

Median List Price -- Trailing 12 Months

Pricing and Value

Metric	Value
National Average List Price	$700,102 (-1.7% YoY)
National Median List Price	$399,900 (-0.2% YoY)
National Median List Price Per Sq Ft	$220/sq ft (-1.6% YoY)
National Median Square Feet	1,788 (-0.2% YoY)

Market Speed and Competition

Metric	Value
National Median Days on Market	78 days (+5 days YoY)
National Price-Increased Share	1% (-0.3 percentage points YoY)
National Price-Reduced Share	14.3% (-1.3 percentage points YoY)

Supply Snapshot

Metric	Value
National Active Listings	912,696 (+10.1% YoY)
National Total Listings	1,223,931 (+7.3% YoY)

Market Activity

Metric	Value
National New Listings	329,228 (+0.7% YoY)
National Pending Listings	312,588 (-0.6% YoY)
National Pending Ratio	34.3 (-3.7 percentage points YoY)

What This Means for Sellers

• The national median list price was nearly flat year over year, while median price per square foot declined 1.61%, making realistic initial pricing important.
• Active inventory increased 10.05% and total listings rose 7.26%, giving buyers more alternatives than they had a year earlier.
• The typical home spent 78 days on the market, five days longer than in January 2025, so sellers had less reason to assume an immediate sale.
• Price reductions affected 14.32% of listings, down 1.26 percentage points from the prior year, supporting the report’s view that more sellers were adjusting expectations before listing rather than relying on later cuts.

What This Means for Buyers

• Active inventory and total listings both increased from a year earlier, creating more choice at the national level.
• The median list price was nearly flat, the median price per square foot declined, and homes took five additional days to sell.
• The report showed that the Northeast and Midwest remained far below pre-pandemic inventory norms, so the national improvement did not translate into the same leverage in every market.
• The pending ratio fell to 34.25%, down 3.68 percentage points year over year, indicating that the overall listing pool expanded faster than the share moving under contract.

Deeper Market Data

The broader CSV shows 312,588 pending listings, down 0.62% year over year, while total listings rose 7.26% to 1,223,931. That combination pushed the pending ratio down 3.68 percentage points and suggests that available supply expanded faster than contract activity. The average list price declined 1.69%, median listed square footage was nearly unchanged at 1,788 square feet, and listings with price increases represented just 1.04% of the market. The article also noted that, compared with May 2025, only the Midwest had improved relative to its pre-pandemic inventory norm, while the national recovery had moved backward.