Existing Home Sales: Slight Miss, Trend Still Higher

Bottom Line: Sales rose slightly less than expected in November, but the trend remained slightly stronger after decelerating for most of the first half of 2021. The rebound in recent months kept the trend rate of home sales well above pre-pandemic levels amid continued strong demand for housing. Moreover, the market remains very tight with months' supply of homes down again in November at just over two months, only a touch above the tightest points of 2020. Overall. the housing was on track to add modestly to 4th Quarter GDP after dragging on growth in the prior two quarters.Existing Home Sales ROSE by 1.9% in November to 6.46 million, compared with market expectations for an increase to 6.53 million. There were no revisions to prior data.  Home re-sales are now 2.0% BELOW their year-ago level.
                 
The Inventory of Homes Available for Sale FELL by 9.8% to 1,110k and are now 13.3% BELOW  their year-ago level. Because inventories declined while sales increased, the Months Supply FELL to 2.1 months from 2.3 months.  This is BELOW the 6-month level that is considered 'normal'.Home Prices ROSE compared to their year-ago levels. Average home prices are 8.6% ABOVE their year-ago levels while median home prices are 13.9% ABOVE their year-ago levels.