Existing home sales decreased 2.2% in December to a seasonally adjusted 4.89 million unit rate, the National Association of Realtors announced yesterday. The decrease compared to the 4.95 million unit pace predicted by IFR Markets’ poll of economists and followed an unrevised 0.4% rise to a 5.00 million-unit level in November.
On a year-over-year basis, though, sales overall were down 22.0% from a 6.27 million unit sales pace.