• Existing home sales fell 2.5% in November from October to 6.69 million (SAAR), but were up 25.8% from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• The median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $310,800, up 14.6% from November 2019.
• Total housing inventory at the end of November totaled 1.28 million units, down 9.9% from October and down 22% from one year ago.

The pace of existing home sales may have cooled in November from October’s red-hot pace, but today’s release still serves to reinforce the strength of the housing market and the enduring demand for homes as the end of the year approaches. Despite falling for the first time since May, transaction volume remains just below its highest levels in almost 15 years. Low mortgage rates are helping fuel competition for the relatively few homes available for sale, leading homes to fly off the market and prices to trend upward at a historically strong pace. Similar to sales volume, annual price growth pulled back slightly in November but remains near its strongest pace in more than a decade. With mortgage rates likely to hold near recent lows in the months ahead, and with a wave of people aging into prime homebuying age and looking to enter the market, these firm levels of demand for housing should endure into 2021 and prompt more activity throughout the entire housing market. On the surface, today’s release may look like a small step backward for the housing market, but in reality, it is the latest reflection of the housing market’s strength as 2020 nears its end.