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| Voice for Real Estate says home sales remain historically high  Sales of existing homes in the United States eased but prices stabilized as inventories tightened in December, a realty group said, while 2006 was the third-highest sales year on record. The National Association of Realtors said total existing-home sales -- including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – eased 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.22 million units in December from a level of 6.27 million in November. Sales were 7.9 percent lower than a 6.75 million-unit pace in December 2005.There were 6,480,000 existing-home sales in all of 2006, down 8.4 percent from a record 7,075,000 in 2005. The second highest total was 6,779,000 in 2004; NAR began tracking home sales in 1968. Total housing inventory levels fell 7.9 percent at the end of December to 3.51 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6.8-month supply at the current sales pace – down from a 7.3-month supply in November. The median price for a home sold during December was $222,000, which is unchanged from December 2005. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. For all of 2006, the median price was also $222,000, up 1.1 percent from a median of $219,600 in 2005. The National Association of Realtors, "The Voice for Real Estate, " is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Construction News :: home page |