The pace of existing-home sales in November reached its highest point in three years, according to figures recently released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
November sales-including single- and multi-family units-rose 5.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million from a downwardly revised 4.76 million in October. The current rate is 14.5 percent higher than the 4.40 million-unit pace reached in November 2011, and sales are at the highest level since November 2009 when they spiked at 5.44 million.
Single-family home sales rose 5.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million in November from 4.21 million in October, and are 12.4 percent higher than the 3.95 million-unit level reached in November 2011. The median existing single-family home price was $180,600 in November, up 10.1 percent from a year ago.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 6.9 percent to an annual rate of 620,000 in November and are 14.8 percent above November 2011. Sales in the Midwest increased 7.2 percent in November to a pace of 1.19 million and are 21.4 percent higher than a year ago. In the South, existing-home sales rose 7.9 percent to an annual level of 2.04 million in November and are 17.2 percent above November 2011. And existing-home sales in the West rose 0.8 percent to a pace of 1.19 million in November and are 4.4 percent higher than a year ago.
"Momentum continues to build in the housing market from growing jobs and a bursting out of household formation," said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist. "With lower rental vacancy rates and rising rents, combined with still historically favorable affordability conditions, more people are buying homes. Areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy show storm-related disruptions but overall activity in the Northeast is up, offset by gains in unaffected areas."
