By Nicole Friedman

Home sales fell 8.4% in January, the biggest monthly decline since February 2022, after snowstorms and low consumer confidence slowed a housing market that was showing signs of recovery.

Sales of existing homes fell from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

That snapped a four-month streak of gains, the longest since 2020. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a smaller 4.6% decrease. Expensive home prices and a decrease in inventory also played a role in the sharp deceleration of sales.

Falling mortgage rates have made home purchases more affordable in recent months, and home sales in December rose a revised 4.4%. Some real-estate agents say shopping activity picked up in January.

But stubbornly high home prices and average 30-year mortgage rates that are stuck above 6% are making buyers more picky, and homes are sitting longer on the market. White-collar workers worried about their jobs also tend to avoid big purchases like a new home.

"Improving affordability should have brought more people to the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "The sentiment about the economy is not there, and of course home buying does require some degree of people's comfort levels, confidence, to enter the market."

An increase in home sales in the final months of 2025 spurred expectations that the housing market could start to pick up this year. For buyers who can afford a home purchase today, many are getting discounts: Almost two-thirds of home buyers in 2025 paid below the original listing price, according to Redfin.

Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2026 10:15 ET (15:15 GMT)

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