U.S. existing home sales slump 8.6% in November

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (Chinese media) -- Sales of existing

homes in the United States dropped by 8.6 percent in November to a seasonally

adjusted annual rate of 4.49 million units, the National Association of Realtors

(NAR) reported on Tuesday.

Existing home sales -- including single-family,

townhouses, condominiums and co-ops -- in October was downwardly revised to 4.91

million units.

Meanwhile, prices were down last month. The national

median price of existing homes plunged to 181,300 dollars, down by 13.2 percent

from a year ago.

"There remains a significant downward distortion in

the current price from a large number of distress sales at discounted prices,"

the NAR said. The median price is the point at which half of existing homes are

sold for more and half sold for less.

The inventory of unsold homes at the end of November

rose 0.1 percent to 4.20 million units. At the November sales pace, it would

take 11.2 months to eliminate the overhang of unsold homes, up from 10.3 months

in October.

The November sales of existing homes were 10.6

percent below the pace in November 2007 and reflected the ongoing woes of the

housing sector since a bubble burst around two years ago.

"The quickly deteriorating conditions in the job

market, stock market, and consumer confidence in October and November have

knocked down home sales to another level," said NAR chief economist Lawrence

Yun.

"We hope the home sales impact from the stock market

crash turns out to be short-lived, as was the case in 1987 and 2001," he said.