Existing home sales increased 4.0% in November to a seasonally adjusted 4.42-million-unit rate, following a downwardly revised 4.25-million-unit rate in October, the National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday.
NAR also announced its benchmark revisions.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted 5.05 million sales.
On a year-over-year basis, sales overall were up 12.2% from a 3.94-million-unit sales pace last November.
“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,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “We’ve seen healthy gains in contract activity.”
The 2010 benchmark shows 4,190,000 existing home sales last year, a 14.6% downward revision from the previously projected 4,908,000.
For 2007 through 2010, home sales and inventory were downwardly revised by 14.3%.
Sales rose in all regions, jumping 9.8% in the Northeast to 560,000 units, climbing 4.3% to 960,000 units in the Midwest, and rising 2.4% in the South to 1.74 million.
In the West, sales grew 3.6% to 1.16 million, NAR said.
Inventory levels sank 5.8% at the end of November, to 2.58 million existing homes for sale.
The national average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was a record low 3.99% in November, down from October’s 4.07%, NAR said. The rate was 4.30% in November 2010.
