The market for existing single-family home sales rose in November and set the
stage for a possible record year, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS.
Existing-home sales increased 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 5.21 million units in November from an upwardly revised pace of 5.18
million units in October. Last month's sales activity was 1.7 percent below the
5.30-million unit pace in November 2000.
David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said this is another positive
development with housing continuing to stand tall in the U.S. economy.
"Existing-home sales have been consistently stronger than expected this year,
and we're so close to setting a new record that we really won't know until the
December data is available. What's more, we're looking for another strong
performance in 2002," he said. "Despite the recession, all the major factors
necessary for a strong housing market – low interest rates, strong household
formation and relatively low unemployment – are continuing to create favorable
market conditions."
NAR President Martin Edwards, Jr. said the housing market is gaining the
most from low interest rates. "Mortgage interest rates held pretty steady last
month, close to the lowest levels we've seen since the 1960s," he said. "With
low interest rates and more homes coming on the market, we have an excellent
window of opportunity for the first part of the new year – especially for
first-time buyers. However, with the economy projected to improve during 2002,
fixed mortgage rates will be ticking up to the 7.2-percent range by the second
half of the year, which would place some pressure on lower income borrowers."
In other data, the national median existing-home price was $147,300 in
November, up 5.6 percent from November 2000 when the median price was $139,500.
The median is the midpoint, which is a typical market price where half of the
homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Published: December 28, 2001
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