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Dec Existing Home Sales Dec Nov Consensus:
Total Sales: 5.28M 4.70r 4.9M
% Change: +12.3% +6.1%r Actual:
Months Supply: 8.1 9.5 5.28M
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By Alan Zibel and Tom Barkley
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–Sales of previously occupied homes rose more than
expected last month, ending a rocky year for the housing market on an
encouraging note.
Home resales increased by 12.3% from a month earlier to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million, the National Association of Realtors said
Thursday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected home sales in
December to increase by 4.7%, to an annual rate of 4.9 million.
Despite the monthly jump, the housing market remains a weak spot for the
economy, which is slowly coming out of a severe recession. For all of 2010,
about 4.9 million homes were sold, the worst year since 1997 and down 4.8% from
a year earlier.
Prospective buyers have been squeezed by tight lending standards and worries
about their jobs. The nation’s economic woes have forced some families to
double up in housing, which has helped curb demand.
The housing industry received a boost early last year from a homebuyer tax
credit that helped revive sales, but activity sank after it expired.
Last month, rising mortgage rates pulled some buyers off the fence out of
fear that rates will rise again, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group’s chief
economist.
“The initial rise generally induces people to make a decision earlier,” he
said.
The median sales price for an existing home fell to $168,800 in December.
That’s down 1.0% from the year-ago median price of $170,500 and down 0.8% from
a downwardly revised $170,200 in November The inventory of previously owned homes listed for sale shrunk 4.2% at the end of December to 3.56 million available for sale. That represented a
8.1-month supply at the current sales pace, compared with a 9.5-month supply in
November.
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