DENVER, CO — The U.S. housing market showed significant movement in January 2025, with new listings surging 53.7% compared to December 2024 and maintaining near parity with January 2024, down by just 0.1%. Inventory levels also rose 5.0% month over month and were 30.9% higher than the same time last year, reflecting growing options for buyers amid market adjustments, according to the RE/MAX National Housing Report for January 2025.
The median sales price in January was $422,000, down 1.8% from December yet up 5.3% year over year, marking an increase of approximately $21,000. Seasonal trends influenced sales activity, with completed home transactions dropping 24.3% from December. However, sales were 6.0% higher than in January 2024, continuing a four-month streak of year-over-year gains.
“This is about what we expected,” said RE/MAX Holdings CEO Erik Carlson. “January is typically a quiet month due to the winter weather and the holidays wrapping up, but the market remained relatively active – with home sales 6% higher than last year. Buyers who needed to move took advantage of the increased inventory, and sellers benefited from having motivated buyers out there looking at homes.”
Regionally, Burlington, Vermont led inventory growth with a dramatic 64.1% year-over-year increase in active listings. However, the area still reported some of the lowest active inventory levels among the 52 metros surveyed, with only 320 active listings.
Rich Gardner, broker/owner of RE/MAX North Professionals in Colchester, Vermont, noted that the inventory increase, while beneficial, is not uniform across market segments. “The increase in inventory isn’t evenly distributed,” he said. “While more homes are hitting the market, availability varies by price range and home type – mid-range, single-family homes remain scarce while luxury listings and some condo markets are more plentiful. So, although there are slightly more choices, competition remains intact and buyers still need to act quickly.”
Other key figures demonstrated changes in market dynamics. Buyers paid 98% of the asking price on average in January, consistent with both December and January of last year. Homes took an average of 55 days to sell, two days longer than December and nine days more than January 2024. The months’ supply of inventory, which measures how long it would take to sell all available homes at the current sales pace, stood at 2.8 – down from 3.0 in December but up from 2.1 a year earlier.
Markets with notable increases in year-over-year new listings include Seattle (+32.9%), Anchorage (+29.0%), and Des Moines (+28.4%). On the flip side, areas like Bozeman (-31.9%), Milwaukee (-29.3%), and St. Louis (-28.1%) saw the largest declines.
Median home prices continued to vary across regions. Pittsburgh led the charge with a 15.1% year-over-year increase, closely followed by Wichita (+14.2%) and Milwaukee (+13.9%). Only two markets, Tampa (-3.5%) and Baltimore (-2.7%), experienced a decline in median sales prices.
The housing market’s January performance underscores mixed but stable trends, with certain regions experiencing sharp inventory growth while others remain constrained by imbalances in specific price points. Despite seasonal factors, continued buyer demand highlights the resilience of the market.
Looking ahead, industry leaders anticipate a year shaped by stabilizing prices and opportunities for both buyers and sellers. “The market continues to adjust, but the underlying demand is strong,” Carlson said. “We expect inventory gains and stabilizing mortgage rates to provide even more opportunities as we head into the spring selling season.”
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