Resales Hold Steady

Sales of existing single-family homes held steady near record levels in October as low mortgage rates continued to feed a strong housing market.The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales fell 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.75 million in October, down from an upwardly revised rate of 6.76 million in September. "The ongoing stimulus of lower-than-expected mortgage rates was the primary driver of strong home sales in October," NAR chief economist David Lereah said. NAR economists estimate that resales will total 6.55 million by the end of December, easily beating the 2003 record of 6.1 million sales. Meanwhile, house price appreciation is not slowing down. The NAR reported that the median house price was $187,000 in October, up 8.8% on an annual basis. The NAR can be found on the Internet at http://realtor.org.