January Home Sales Plunge 8.4% as America's Top Economist Declares a 'New Housing Crisis'
The American housing market just delivered its worst monthly performance in nearly four years, and the nation's most influential real estate economist isn't mincing words. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, called it plainly on Thursday: the United States is in the grip of "a new housing crisis." Sales of previously owned homes in January collapsed 8.4% from December to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of just 3.91 million units — the slowest pace since December 2023 and the steepest monthly decline since February 2022. The drop was far worse than Wall Street expected, landing on a market that had briefly dared to hope the worst was over after December's encouraging uptick. Compared with January 2025, sales are down 4.4%, extending a punishing drought that has now stretched into its fourth consecutive year. What makes this crisis distinct from previous downturns is the paradox at its heart: affordability metrics are technically improving, wages are outpacing home price growth, and mortgage rates have edged lower — yet Americans remain, in Yun's words, "stuck." The median home price in January hit $396,800, a record for the month, even as the pool of willing and able buyers continues to shrink. It's a housing market that is simultaneously more affordable on paper and more inaccessible in practice, a contradiction that is reshaping the financial lives of millions.