Pending-Home Sales Creep Up at the End of the Year

After a year of weak sales activity, pending-home sales improved at the end of 2025. Pending-home sales in November increased by 3.3% from the prior month and by 2.6% year-over-year, according to recent data from the National Association of Realtors.

Moving forward, housing industry pros expect pending-home sales to continue on this upward trajectory, with 22% suggesting there will be an increase in buyer traffic over the next three months. In October, just 17% of those surveyed said the same.

Where have pending sales increased the most?

Pending-home sales were up in every major region of the U.S. in November, but especially in the West, where they grew by 9.2% month-over-month and by 2.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Other regions saw smaller increases. In the South, pending-home sales grew by 2.4% month-over-month and by 3.3% year-over-year. In the Midwest, pending sales grew by 1.3% month-over-month and by 2.2% year-over-year, and in the Northeast, they grew by just 1.8% on both a month-over-month and a year-over-year basis.