WASHINGTON – Sales of existing homes ticked down in December from the month before, while the total for 2012 hit the highest level in five years, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.
The pace of sales fell 1 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million, according to NAR. For all of 2012, existing-home sales hit 4.65 million, the highest level since 2007 and up 9.2 percent from 2011.
“Record-low mortgage interest rates clearly are helping many home buyers, but tight inventory and restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are limiting sales,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
The rate in November was revised to 4.99 million from an earlier estimate of 5.04 million, which was the highest rate since November 2009. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a rate of 5.1 million for December, with buyers eager to take advantage of relatively high affordability in a housing market that is gaining steam.
Buyers’ concerns about the “fiscal cliff” may be at least partially behind December’s sales decline, wrote Millan Mulraine, macro strategist at TD Securities, in a research note.
“Given this, we anticipate that sales activity could rebound in January following the tax deal, given the very supportive buying conditions and the increasing incentive for first-time buyers (who are currently sitting on the fence) to slowly move into the market as prices begin to firm,” Mulraine wrote.![]()
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