US November existing home sales rise 0.4 pct to 5.00 mln annual rate

US November existing home sales rise 0.4 pct to 5.00 mln annual rate

	Published : Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:02 By : Agencies Print this Story

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Existing home sales in the US rose marginally in November, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said today, the first increase after eight straight months of declines.

Sales were up 0.4 pct to an annual rate of 5.00 mln units, up from the October rate, revised up slightly to 4.98 mln.

Economists were predicting a 4.97 mln unit rate, unchanged from the originally reported October rate, based on a stabilization of the pending home sales data in the last two months.

Single-family house sales were up 0.7 pct for the month to a 4.40 mln unit rate. Condo sales were down 1.6 pct to 600,000 their lowest rate in six years.

The month-end backlog of unsold homes on the market fell 3.6 pct to 4.27 mln units, a 10.3 months supply at the current sales rate. That was an improvement in the inventory overhang from the revised 10.7 months in October, but NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said 'inventory is still high, and further reduction in prices may be required in some areas to induce buyers back into the market.'

The median price of an existing home sold in November was 210,200 usd, down 3.3 pct from November of last year.

For single-family homes, the price drop was 3.7 pct from last year to a median price of 208,700.

Sales have been stymied in many markets as as buyers have trouble arranging financing and sellers remain reluctant to cut prices.

'We have many people simply waiting and waiting to get into the market,' Yun said, 'trying to market-time' for a lower price or lower interest rates.

Last week, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index of home prices showed a record 6.1 pct year-over-year drop for October. The NAR has complained that continued reports of falling prices are contributing to that consumer psychology.

Regionally, home sales rose 10.3 pct in the West after two exceptionally bad months. Sales were unchanged in the Midwest, down 2.0 pct in the South and down 3.3 pct in the Northeast.

dennis.moore@thomson.com

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