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Existing-Home Sales Rise to Record Pace in November

“Mortgage interest rates dropped a quarter of a percentage point in late summer and then stabilized,” said David Lereah, the association’s chief economist. “Coupled with a growing labor market and a rising economy, this created optimal conditions for the housing sector.”

Lereah said that home sales should remain strong this year, although activity will be down some from the record-setting pace of 2004, and that’s a good thing. “We think slower sales will help to create a better balance between home buyers and sellers, but with tight inventories of homes available for sale, price appreciation hasn’t slowed yet.”

Housing inventories at the end of November were, however, up 2.1% to a total of 2.48 million homes for sale, a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace.

By region, resales were up 6.5% in the West, 1.8% in the South and 0.7% in the Midwest. Sales were down 1.3% in the Northeast.

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