Existing Home Sales Highest in Ten Months

Washington, DC, Dec. 21, 2011 -- Existing-home sales rose again in November and remain above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The latest monthly data shows total existing-home sales increased 4.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.42 million in November from 4.25 million in October, and are 12.2% above the 3.94 million-unit pace in November 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said more people are taking advantage of the buyer's market.

"Sales reached the highest mark in 10 months and are 34% above the cyclical low point in mid-2010 -- a genuine sustained sales recovery appears to be developing," he said.

"We've seen healthy gains in contract activity, so it looks like more people are realizing the great opportunity that exists in today's market for buyers with long-term plans."

Also released today were periodic benchmark revisions with downward adjustments to sales and inventory data since 2007, led by a decline in for-sale-by-owners.

Although rebenchmarking resulted in lower adjustments to several years of home sales data, the month-to-month characterization of market conditions did not change.