• November existing home sales rose 0.7 percent from October and were up 15.4 percent from a year ago, the third straight monthly increase, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• National sales rates were driven higher by strength of sales in the Northeast (up 8 percent from October) and the South (up 1.4 percent), cancelling out smaller declines in the West and Midwest. Overall, single-family home sales declined modestly from October (down 0.4 percent) while sales of condos surged by 10 percent, though single-family home sales still make up a far larger share of the market.
• November existing home prices rose 6.8 percent year-over-year to $234,900, the 57th straight month of annual price gains.

Once again in November, sales of existing homes showed surprising strength, defying expectations for a modest monthly decline and instead growing for the third straight month. Some will point to the threat of rising interest rates pushing buyers to close on sales earlier than they otherwise might have, providing a boost to November’s sales at the expense of later months, and that may have happened with some consumers in the later stages of the buying process. But in reality, rates haven’t really risen enough over the past few weeks to make buying a home meaningfully more expensive for most — the recent rate rises amount to an extra few cups of coffee per month in added expenses, hardly anything to change a major decision over. As mortgage interest rates rise further, however, it’s likely that buyers in the nation’s more expensive coastal markets will begin to feel the pinch sooner than their peers in more affordable areas in the middle of the country. But for now, interest rates aren’t having too much of an impact, and instead simple market fundamentals are driving the changes we’re seeing, including a consistently improving job market, growing wages and decent household formation, all of which help to keep demand at a boil at the same time as inventory remains incredibly tight. All this means that we look set to end 2016 the same way we started it, with modestly accelerating home value growth and a shortage of homes available to buy to soak up the rampant demand in the market.