What Slowdown? Existing-Home Sales Rise in Unusual November

Existing-home sales increased 0.7 percent to 5.61 million in November, reports the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), up from 5.57 million in October—reversing the typical trend toward a slowdown at this time of year. The November numbers, up 15.4 percent from last November, mark the highest sales pace since February 2007. The upward pull, according to the report, was driven primarily by activity in the Northeast, which grew 8.0 percent to 810,000.

“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,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “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.”

“With the holidays around the corner and weather getting frosty in much of the country, November is typically the slowest month of the fall,” says Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com® chief economist, “but this year it was abnormally strong. Last month, we saw the highest level of sales for November since 2006, and there was more buyer and seller traffic than there was in October.”