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US Existing Home Sales Hit Record
By Andrea Hopkins WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of existing U.S. homes rose unexpectedly to a record high in November and prices surged as low mortgage rates fueled home-buying, a trade association report showed on Wednesday. Sales of previously owned homes climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.94 million units last month from an upwardly revised 6.76 million unit pace in October, the National Association of Realtors said. "Mortgage
interest rates dropped a quarter of a percentage point in late summer and then stabilized. Coupled with a growing labor market and a rising economy, this created optimal conditions for the housing sector," NAR chief economist David Lereah said. Analysts had expected sales to hold steady at October's originally reported 6.75 million unit rate. "We had thought that things would moderate a bit," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International in New York. "Mortgage purchase applications were at a new high in November, and it looks like that mortgage money was going into existing homes.." The report showed the national median home price surged 10.4 percent from the same month a year earlier to $188,200 -- the largest gain since July 1987. NAR's Lereah said while the price jump may raise some eyebrows, he was not concerned about a housing bubble -- since the market is expected to cool slightly next year from 2004's record-setting pace. "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," he said. The supply of homes available for sale at the current pace was unchanged from October at 4.3 months' worth, NAR said. MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS SLOW While the November data were unexpectedly strong, a separate report showed applications for U.S. home
mortgages slipped last week as refinancing activity slumped. Mortgage rates were little changed. Continued ...
Source: reuters.com