Home sales snapped a five-month skid in November as easing mortgage rates encouraged homebuyers
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November, ending a five-month skid, as easing mortgage rates encouraged homebuyers
LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in November, ending a five-month skid, as easing mortgage rates encouraged homebuyers.
Existing home sales rose 0.8% last month from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.82 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That tops the 3.78 million sales pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.
Sales were still down 7.3% compared with November last year.
The pickup in sales helped push up home prices compared with a year earlier for the fifth month in a row. The national median sales price rose 4% from November last year to $387,600.
“Home sales always respond to lower interest rates,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist, adding that home sales have “no doubt” hit their low point of the current housing market cycle.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has eased after climbing to 7.79% in late October to its highest level since late 2000. The average dropped to 6.95% last week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
The pullback in rates has echoed a decline in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. The yield, which in mid October surged to its highest level since 2007, has been falling on hopes that inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to finally stop raising interest rates.
Despite the recent decline, the average rate on a 30-year home loan remains sharply higher than just two years ago, when it was around 3%. The large gap between rates now and then is contributing to the low inventory of homes for sale by discouraging
Read more on abcnews.go.com
