Existing home sales for Nov hit six-month low of 4.9m units

Washington

HOME resales in the US tumbled to a six-month low in November after two straight months of strong increases, underscoring the uneven nature of the housing market recovery.

The National Association of Realtors said on Monday that existing home sales fell 6.1 per cent to an annual rate of 4.93 million units, the lowest level since May. November's steep decline probably does not signal the start of a weakening trend and in part reflected stubbornly low inventories, which touched an eight-month low, giving buyers limited options. Sales were up 2.1 per cent from a year ago.