• December existing home sales totaled 6.18 million (SAAR), down 4.6% from November and down 7.1% from December 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• Total housing inventory at the end of December was down 18% from November and down 14.2% from one year ago.
• The median existing-home price for all housing types in December was $358,000, up 15.8% from December 2020.

While the total number of existing home sales in 2021 was the highest in 15 years, sales volumes in December fell prey to a simple truism: It’s very hard for sales to meaningfully grow when there’s just not that much available to buy. Existing home sales fell back to earth in December after an unexpectedly strong autumn, and the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales ended 2021 below the level reported at the end of 2020 — the first time since 2018 that the rate of existing home sales closed out the year below its starting point. This reversal can be traced to a dramatic decrease in options for buyers. Last month, for-sale inventory dropped below 1 million listings for the first time in more than 20 years of record-keeping, and is down 40% compared to December 2019, pre-pandemic levels. The recent rise of the highly contagious omicron variant could help explain last month’s weakness; some homeowners might have been hesitant to list occupied properties because they were worried about being exposed to the fast-spreading variant. Existing home sales will accelerate over the next few months as case counts dwindle and the housing market builds up to the busy spring season. Higher prices and seemingly inexhaustible buyer demand will entice more sellers into the market and generate more sales throughout the year.