Sales of Existing Homes Rise in December, but 2024 Was the Slowest Year for Transactions in Nearly 30 Years

Sales of previously owned homes rose last month, but not enough to prevent 2024 from being the slowest year for home transactions in nearly 30 years.

Existing-home sales rose 2.2% on the month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.24 million, the strongest pace since February 2024, the National Association of Realtors® reported on Friday.

Compared with a year earlier, sales rose 9.3%, the largest annual gain in over three years.

“Home sales in the final months of the year showed solid recovery despite elevated mortgage rates,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Home sales during the winter are typically softer than the spring and summer, but momentum is rising with sales climbing year over year for three straight months.”

The median sales price of existing homes continued to rise, climbing 6% from a year earlier, to $404,400 in December. It marked the 18th consecutive month of annual price increases and biggest year-over-year growth since October 2022.

However, for the full year of 2024, home sales hit the lowest level since 1995, declining to 4.06 million from 4.09 million the prior year.

The nearly three-decade sales low is even more remarkable considering that the U.S. population has grown by about 70 million, and added some 40 million jobs, since 1995.

Meanwhile, the median sales price of homes reached a record high of $407,500 across 2024, as sluggish sales and a growing supply of homes on the market failed to drag prices down.

“While the improvement [last month] is something to celebrate, the December data caps a year where home sales did not live up to expectations,” says Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “The strength of the December uptick will be tested in the months ahead, but does open the possibility that the bottom in existing-home sales is truly in the rearview mirror.”

Rising supply boosts sales in December

The uptick in home sales in December came despite elevated mortgage rates, which averaged 6.72% last month, according to Freddie Mac.

“In my view, the most important variable in this real estate cycle appears to be inventory availability,” Yun told journalists on a conference call. “People want to jump into the market. They are liking having more choices. So people are entering due to more inventory availability.”

The total supply of homes for sale at the end of December was 1.15 million units, down 13.5% from November in line with seasonal trends, but up 16.2% from one year ago.

At the current sales pace, there was a 3.3-month supply of homes on the market, down from 3.8 months in November but up from 3.1 months in December 2023.

Housing economists generally view a six-month supply of homes as representing a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Home prices growing slowest in the South

Home prices rose in every region on an annual basis last month, but grew slowest in the South, where mounting inventory is keeping price growth low.

The median sales price in the South was $361,800 in December, up just 3.4% from one year earlier.

Transactions in the South increased 3.2% from November, to an annual rate of 1.93 million last month, up 9% from one year before.

In the Northeast, existing-home sales grew 3.9% from November, to an annual rate of 530,000, up 10.4% from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $478,900, up 11.8% from last year.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales slid 1% in December, to 990,000 annualized, up 6.5% from the prior year. The median price in the Midwest was $298,600, up 9% from December 2023.

In the West, existing-home sales rose 2.6% in December, to an annual rate of 790,000, up 12.9% from a year ago. The median price in the West was $614,500, up 6% from the prior year.