November Existing Home Sales 5 million annual rate, up 0.4% from Oct
November existing home sales rose 0.4% to a 5 million unit annual rate compared with a revised 4.98 million unit rate in October. This is slightly above the 4.97 unit rate that analysts had expected. However, home sales were still 20% below the November 2006 levels. Single-family home sales rose 0.7% to 4.4 million units; the first increase in single-family existing home sales since February of this year. Condo sales fell 1.6% in November to a 600,000 unit rate. Overall the median price of homes sold in November was $210,200, 3.3% below year earlier levels. The median price of single-family homes was $208,700, down 3.7% from year earlier levels. While inventory levels were down in November to 4.27 million units that was a 10.3 months supply at the current sales rate, slightly below October’s 10.7 months supply. There were 3.64 million single-family homes for sale at the end of November, down 3.7% from October but still a 9.9 months supply at the current sales pace compared with a 7.1 months supply last November. Geographically, home sales were down in the Northeast and South, unchanged in the Midwest and up 10% in the West despite the West’s heavy dependence on jumbo mortgage loans which are still running 90 basis points above conventional loans on average. This minor upside surprise and slight revision higher may resonate in the equity markets on the upside which will result in some bond futures selling.