In December 2025, the number of active listings nationwide was up by 12.1 percent from a year earlier, the report shows. Inventory growth, which surged to 30 percent during the late spring and early summer, began tapering off afterward.
Inventory stayed constrained in the Northeast and Midwest, but expanded more rapidly across the South and West. The report indicates that inventory rose by 30 to 40 percent in many Southern and Western markets through the first half of 2025, while in the Northeast and Midwest, inventory increased in the low double digits.
Prices moved in step with regional inventory levels. In most Northeast markets, they rose 3 to 4 percent on a price-per-square-foot basis, while the South saw flat or declining values. The West experienced a midyear downturn in 2025. By December, the Northeast recorded a 4.1 percent year-over-year gain, compared with a 1.7 percent increase in the Midwest.
“Looking at the housing market through national or even regional averages can miss what’s really happening on the ground,” Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist, said in the report.
“In 2025, some metros closely tracked their regional story, while others followed a very different narrative. Understanding whether your local market is typical or an exception is critical as we head into 2026.”
Other Northeast markets with inventory growth under 5 percent year over year include Buffalo, New York, at 2.8 percent, along with New York City and the Newark-Jersey City metro at 4 percent. Buffalo’s median price grew 3 percent year over year to $249,950. The median price in New York metro declined by less than 2 percent to $749,939.
Providence, Rhode Island, saw inventory grow 12.5 percent, and year-over-year home prices by 12.6 percent, with a December median of $549,900. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, experienced a 7.6 percent inventory gain, but prices remained stagnant with a median of $359,900 in December.
In Boston, inventory grew above the national average at 25.4 percent, with home prices declining by less than 1 percent and the median holding at $772,000.
Similarly, inventory in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, increased by 20.7 and 19.3 percent, respectively, but other Midwest locations such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, reported inventory gains of less than 9 percent. Chicago’s inventory declined by 1.1 percent.
Cincinnati’s median price rose 2.6 percent year over year to $329,900. In the Chicago metro, the December median was $348,900—a 1.8 percent annual increase.
“Housing in 2025 wasn’t defined by a single national narrative,” Hale said. “Some markets told the regional story almost perfectly, while others consistently defied it.”
Hale noted that for buyers and sellers planning for the new year, understanding each market’s trend can help them make better-informed decisions.
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia, metro area reported the largest inventory gain at 32.8 percent, but a 4.8 percent year-over-year decline in the median listing price. Its December median stood at $549,900.
Inventory in Raleigh, North Carolina, increased by 26.7 percent while prices dropped by 1.1 percent. Its December median price was $440,000. Charlotte, South Carolina, along with Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, all reported inventory growth of more than 12 percent.
Three California metros—San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, and Sacramento—also reported an inventory uptick of over 12 percent. Home prices in these metros dropped by just over 3 percent. Inventory in the Seattle-Tacoma, Washington, metro grew by nearly 30 percent, with prices remaining flat.
The San Jose metro registered the highest median home price at $1.198 million, almost a 3 percent year-over-year decline. Seattle’s median at $726,500 represented a 0.5 percent year-over-year increase.
The report concludes that at the metro level, 9 of the 50 largest markets have now surpassed their pre-pandemic inventory levels by at least 25 percent, and all are located in the South or West.
