US Home Sales Rose 5.6% year-on-year record high
The total number of existing home sales in November was 5.81 million, an all-time high in 11 years, with 5.53 million expected. The previous figure of 5.48 million was revised to 5.5 million.
The United States in November the total number of existing home sales annulus of 5.6%, 0.9% expected, the previous value of 2% revised to 2.4%. Existing home sales account for about 90% of U.S. home sales.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said the U.S. property sales in November exceeded expectations and hit the highest level since December 2006, signaling U.S. housing market is taking off from a hysteresis and regaining momentum.
This year, property markets in the southern United States hit by hurricanes Harvey and Irma continued to recover. The southern part of existing home sales accounted for almost half of the market, with an increase of 8.3% in November, a 6.7% increase in the northeast and a 8.4% increase in the central and western parts of the country, but soaring housing prices caused a 2.3% sales fall in the western region.
Despite recent increases, existing home sales are still constrained by long-term shortage of low-end houses in the market, leaving some first home buyers to wait and see for high prices.
Calculated with November sales rate, the current inventory will take 3.4 months to consume, setting a record low. 6 months of stock is considered a healthy balance of supply and demand.
As supply remained tight, the median house price in November rose 5.8%, up to $248,000. This is the 69th month of the price rise.
