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Existing Home Sales Rose 5% To End 2025

  • 1:33 PM EST

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The housing market closed out 2025 with its strongest showing in months, as existing-home sales jumped 5.1% in December, according to data released today by the National Association of Realtors. The uptick marks the third consecutive monthly gain and brings the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate to 3.95 million units—a modest but notable 1.8% increase from December 2024. 

The improvement comes as mortgage rates edged down to an average of 6.19% for a 30-year fixed loan in December, a drop from 6.72% a year earlier. That has helped ease affordability pressures, even as home prices continued their upward march. The median existing-home price hit $405,400 in December, up slightly from the prior year and extending a 30-month streak of year-over-year price gains. 

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun acknowledged the headwinds buyers faced over the past year but struck an optimistic tone about recent trends.

"2025 was another tough year for homebuyers, marked by record-high home prices and historically low home sales," Yun said. "However, in the fourth quarter, conditions began improving, with lower mortgage rates and slower home price growth."

See other articles related to: existing home sales

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/existing_home_sales_rose_5_to_end_2025/24217.

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