Economic Buzz: US existing home sales surge in December

Existing home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of December, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.

NAR said existing home sales spiked by 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.35 million in December after climbing by 0.7 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.14 million in November.

The report also said housing inventory at the end of December totaled 1.18 million units, down 18.1 percent from 1.44 million units in November but up 3.5 percent from 1.14 million units in December 2024.

The unsold inventory represents 3.3 months of supply, down from 4.2 months in November but up from 3.2 months a year ago.

NAR also said the medium existing home price was $405,400 in December, up 0.4 percent from the same month a year ago, marking the 30th straight month of year-over-year price growth.

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