Existing Home Sales Up in December
December existing home sales were up last month, but less than expected. The 5% increase from November, while 3.6% above December 2010, was still below the 5.2% increase economists expected.
The “glass-half-full” outlook:
home sales increased for the third straight month, to the highest level since January 2011.
The number of previously owned homes on the market is now 2.38 million, a six-year low.
Total sales for the year were 4.26 million, up 1.7% from 4.19 million in 2010. In 2008, the worst year of the recent housing bust, 4.11 million homes were sold.
Home sales for December increased from November in all four regions in the U.S.:
+10.7% in the Northeast
+2.9% in the South
+8.3% in the Midwest
+2.6% in the West
• Milder-than-normal December weather may have helped home sales.
If low prices and mortgage rates and rising employment continue, the good news may just continue to roll.
This entry was posted
on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at and is filed under Rental and Housing Markets.
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