US existing home sales unexpectedly rise in November

Sales of existing US homes unexpectedly rose in November, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

Sales were up 0.7% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.61m from a downwardly-revised 5.57m the month before, marking the highest pace since February 2007. Sales were 15.4% higher than November last year.

Economists had been expecting existing home sales to decline by 1% on the month.

Meanwhile, the median price for an existing home was up 6.8% from November 2015 to $234,900.

Total housing inventory at the end of November fell 8% to 1.85m existing homes available for sale, and is now 9.3% lower than a year ago, having fallen year-on-year for 18 straight months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said: "The healthiest job market since the Great Recession and the anticipation of some buyers to close on a home before mortgage rates accurately rose from their historically low level have combined to drive sales higher in recent month.

"Furthermore, it's no coincidence that home shoppers in the Northeast — where price growth has been tame all year — had the most success last month."