Home values fell on a monthly basis for the sixth consecutive month in January, according to the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVII). This trend mirrors last year, when home values fell each month from August 2024 to February 2025. The monthly mortgage payment on a typical home is now 8.4 percent less expensive than a year ago, driven down primarily by lower mortgage rates.
New listings and the early read on sales both fell in January compared to last year, likely influenced by poor weather in much of the country. Buyers are having an easier time than last year, with homes on the market longer and fewer homes selling above list price.
“We’re starting 2026 following three years that saw transactions bouncing along the bottom and affordability as a chronic struggle,” Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Zillow, said in a release. “Our forecast for both sales and affordability this year is one of gradual improvement. January was a cautious first step along that path, as potential buyers and sellers dealt with severe winter weather in many major markets. We expect sales to pick up as spring approaches. Housing affordability continues to improve for prospective homebuyers, while modest growth in the Zillow Observed Rent Index points to continued cooling in shelter inflation."
The typical U.S. home value is $358,968. The ZHVI fell 0.4 percent month-over-month in January. Home values are 0.2 percent higher than a year earlier. The monthly mortgage payment on a typical home is $1,733, assuming a 20 percent down payment and excluding taxes and insurance. That is 8.4 percent lower than last year.
There were 1.11 million homes for sale nationwide in January. Active inventory was 6 percent higher than a year earlier. Inventory fell 0.1 percent from December. New for-sale listings totaled 269,922 in January, down 5.5 percent from a year earlier, and up 54.8 percent from December.
219,644 homes were sold in January, according to the preliminary Zillow sales count nowcast. That is 4 percent lower than a year earlier, and down 26.4 percent from December. Newly pending listings, which measures listings that changed from for-sale to pending status rather than closed sales, show 1.8 percent year-over-year growth and a 20.8 percent increase over December.
Homes took a median of 47 days to go pending in January. That was eight days longer than a year earlier and four days longer than December. The share of listings with a price cut in January was 22 percent. That was down 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier, and up 5.2 percentage points from December. There were 22.4 percent of homes sold above list price in December, the most recent data available. That was 2.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier, and 1.6 percentage points lower than November.