Existing US home sales are rising unexpectedly

The National Association of Realtors said today that US existing home sales rose 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million units in December, and analyst expectations were for US existing home sales to decline 2.0% to a rate of 6.55 million units in December. On an annual basis, home resellers, which account for the bulk of home sales in the United States, increased by 22.2% in December to a total of 5.64 million units in 2020, the largest number since 2006. The data showed that the average price of existing homes in the United States increased by 12.9% to $ 309,800 during the month of December compared to the same period last year, and house prices increased by 9% in 2020.