U.S. housing supply continued to grow this past January, but the recovery lost momentum as inventory moved further away from pre-pandemic norms, according to Realtor.com®’s January Monthly Housing Report. These trends signal renewed supply constraints even as prices remained largely flat nationwide.
Active listings increased 10% year-over-year, extending a streak of inventory gains to 27 consecutive months. However, that growth has slowed for nine straight months as seasonal trends and market momentum reverse much of the progress made in 2025. As a result, the national housing supply is now 17.2% below typical 2017-2019 levels, the widest gap since last spring, with 30 of the 50 largest U.S. metros regressing relative to pre-pandemic inventory levels since May.
“After meaningful inventory gains last year, the recovery has lost steam,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “Even with more homes on the market than a year ago, supply remains well below pre-pandemic levels, keeping prices firm nationally. Looking locally, the areas where inventory tightened the most are largely in the West and South, predominantly but not exclusively in markets that are fully recovered. This could foreshadow a firming of prices in markets where they were weaker last year, but it will ultimately depend on how sellers respond as we move into the selling season.”
Buyer activity also picked up in January. Pending home sales rose 1.2% year-over-year, marking the largest annual increase since December 2024. The improvement likely reflects mortgage rates falling to their lowest levels since 2022 in mid-January. With rates expected to run meaningfully lower during the 2026 home-buying season than last year, pending sales and new listing activity will be key indicators to watch in the months ahead.
Market momentum has largely normalized. Homes spent a median of 78 days on the market in January, five days longer than a year ago, marking the 22nd consecutive month of slower year-over-year selling times. Despite the five-day month-over-month increase in January, homes are now selling five days faster than their pre-pandemic norms after pacing in line with pre-pandemic norms in July through September.
Nationally, the median list price was essentially unchanged at $399,900, while price per square foot dipped 1.6% from last year. Price cuts were slightly down year-over-year, with 14.3% of listings now offered at a discount compared to 15.6% in January 2025. Last year was defined by a high-share of listings with price cuts (around 20% from June through October) and sticky-high list prices at the median; 2026 may bring the opposite, as more sellers price down at list rather than cutting after seeing their home sit for longer than anticipated.
Where inventory is growing the most
While inventory increased in every major region in January, the gains were modest and broadly uniform, led by the West (+11.5% YoY) and Midwest (+11%), followed by the South (+9.4%) and Northeast (+6.8%). Nearly all of the 50 largest U.S. metros posted year-over-year inventory growth, with the largest increases in Seattle, Charlotte and Washington, D.C. Still, compared with last spring, most markets have moved further away from pre-pandemic supply levels, signaling that the peak of inventory acceleration may already be behind us.
“The coming months will be a real test for the inventory recovery and the road to affordability,” said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com. “A reacceleration in listings growth alongside easing mortgage rates could bring the market into better balance and move the needle on affordability. If supply continues to drift tighter, however, lower rates may simply reignite competition and limit how much relief buyers actually feel.”
Where inventory has recovered the most
While there are still major regional differences in inventory, this past January, the inventory recovery has regressed almost everywhere since earlier last year. Compared to May 2025, only the Midwest region has seen its inventory move closer to pre-pandemic norms (but only improving from -42.1% to -37.4%); for the South, West and Northeast—and the national aggregate—the inventory recovery is moving in the wrong direction: closer to tight pandemic-era markets.
At the metro level, between May 2025 and January 2026, just 20 of the top 50 metros are adding inventory relative to pre-pandemic norms. Of the 28 metros below normal inventory levels in May, just three (Kansas City, Minneapolis and Louisville) have moved meaningfully toward their typical pre-pandemic levels.
Of the 22 markets above pre-pandemic levels in May, all but four regressed back toward their pre-pandemic levels. On one hand this is indicative of an inventory renormalization in the South and West; on the other, this suggests active listings acceleration may have peaked in these markets and prices could firm up in the future.
