After reporting an unexpected jump in U.S. existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing that existing home sales unexpectedly saw further upside in the month of November.
NAR said existing home sales climbed 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.61 million in November after surging up by 1.5 percent to a revised 5.57 million in October.
The continued increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected existing home sales to dip to a rate of 5.54 million from the 5.60 million originally reported for the previous month.
With the unexpected increase, existing home sales rose to the highest annual rate since reaching 5.79 million in February of 2007.
"The healthiest job market since the Great Recession and the anticipation of some buyers to close on a home before mortgage rates accurately rose from their historically low level have combined to drive sales higher in recent months," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
He added, "Furthermore, it's no coincidence that home shoppers in the Northeast — where price growth has been tame all year — had the most success last month."
The report said existing home sales in the Northeast spiked by 8.0 percent, while sales in the South increased by 1.4 percent.
On the other hand, existing home sales in the Midwest and West slumped by 2.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
NAR also said the median existing home price for all housing types in November $234,900, up 0.3 percent from $234,100 in October and up 6.8 percent from $220,000 a year ago.
The report showed a steep drop in total housing inventory, as the number of existing homes available for sale tumbled by 8.0 percent to 1.85 million in November from 2.01 million in October.
The unsold inventory represents 4.0-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 4.3 months in October.
"Existing housing supply at the beginning of the year was inadequate and is now even worse heading into 2017," said Yun. "Rental units are also seeing this shortage. As a result, both home prices and rents continue to far outstrip incomes in much of the country."
While single-family home sales fell by 0.4 percent to a rate of 4.95 million in November, existing condominium and co-op sales jumped by 10.0 percent to a rate of 660,000.
Friday morning, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of November. New home sales are expected to rise to a rate of 580,000.
by RTT Staff Writer
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