Existing-home sales edged up in December, sales for all of 2013 were the highest since 2006 and median prices maintained strong growth, according to the National Association of Realtors. Total existing-homes sales-which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-increased 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.87 million in December from a downwardly revised 4.82 million in November, but are 0.6 percent below the 4.90 million-unit level in December 2012.
For all of 2013, there were 5.09 million sales, which is 9.1 percent higher than 2012. It was the strongest performance since 2006, when sales reached an unsustainably high 6.48 million at the close of the housing boom. The national median existing-home price for all of 2013 was $197,100, which is 11.5 percent above the 2012 median of $176,800, and was the strongest gain since 2005, when it rose 12.4 percent.
"Existing-home sales have risen nearly 20 percent since 2011, with job growth, record low mortgage interest rates and a large pent-up demand driving the market," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "We lost some momentum toward the end of 2013 from disappointing job growth and limited inventory, but we ended with a year that was close to normal given the size of our population."
