NAR: Home sales spike in November

The sales pace for resale homes rose for the third straight month in November, climbing 44.1 compared to the same month last year, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

Sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million, up 7.4 percent compared to October 2009. This rate is a projection of a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for typical seasonal fluctuations in sales.

Regionally, the sales rate rose about 53.5 percent in the Midwest, 52.7 percent in the Northeast, 44.8 percent in the South and 28.1 percent in the West year-over-year in November. And the rate was up 10.6 percent in the West, 8.4 percent in the Midwest, 6.6 percent in the Northeast and 4.8 percent in the South compared to October 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, attributed the "expected" rise to "a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out" on a federal tax credit (see article) available to homebuyers.

The median sales price of resale homes was down 4.3 percent, to $172,600, in November compared to November 2008. Regionally, the median price slipped 13.1 percent in the Northeast, 4.1 percent in the West, 1.4 percent in the South and 0.4 percent in the Midwest year-over-year in November.

The months' supply of resale homes for sale was down 40.9 percent in November 2009 compared to November 2008, at 6.5 months. ...CONTINUED

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