The National
Association of Realtors (NAR) informed on Thursday that the U.S. existing home
sales jumped by 4.8 per cent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.15 million
in November from an unrevised 3.96 million
in October. This marked the highest rate since March (4.22 million).
Economists had forecast
home re-sales accelerating to a 4.07 million-unit pace last month.
In y-o-y terms,
existing-home sales climbed 6.1 per cent in November. This represented the largest annual gain
since June 2021 (+23.0 per cent y-o-y).
According to
the report, three out of four - the Northeast (+8.5 per cent m-o-m), South (+5.6 per cent m-o-m), and Midwest (+5.3 per cent m-o-m) - posted advances in existing-home sales on a m-o-m basis, while the West (0.0 per cent m-o-m) demonstrated no change.
In y-o-y terms,
all four regions showed gains in existing-home sales in November, led by the
West (+14.9 per
cent y-o-y).
Over the
reviewed period, the median existing home price for all housing types soared 4.7
per cent y-o-y to $406,100, reflecting increases in prices in all four U.S.
regions. This was the 17th straight month of year-over-year gains in median existing-home
price.
Single-family
home sales came in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 3.76 million in November,
up 5.0 per cent m-o-m and 7.4 per cent y-o-y. Meanwhile, existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded
at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 390,000 units in November, up 2.6 per cent m-o-m and but down 4.9 per
cent y-o-y.
Commenting on
the latest data, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, noted that home sales
momentum is building. “More buyers have entered the market as the economy
continues to add jobs, housing inventory grows compared to a year ago, and
consumers get used to a new normal of mortgage rates between 6% and 7%,” he
added.