Existing-home sales rose for the first time in six months in November, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.
- M-O-M: Existing-home sales in the South rose to an annual rate of 1.77 million in November, up 4.7% from October and the first increase since May.
- Y-O-Y: Existing-home sales are down 3.4% when compared to the same time last year.
Price. The median price in the South was up to $351,500 in November, down 1.7% from October but up 3.4% from the same time last year.
Beat The Street. Nationally, existing-home sales ended the year on positive note with sales unexpectedly rising 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.82 million, up 0.8% from October and better than the 0.5% that economists were projecting. Year-over-year existing-home sales are still down 7.3% in November.
- The median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $387,600, an increase of 4.0% from last year.
- Total housing inventory registered at the end of November was 1.13 million units, down 1.7% from October but up 0.9% from one year ago.
Analysis. Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, noted that looks can be deceiving when it comes to this report. “The latest weakness in existing home sales still reflects the buyer bidding process in most of October when mortgage rates were at a two-decade high before the actual closings in November…A marked turn can be expected as mortgage rates have plunged in recent weeks.”