Sales of previously owned homes jumped 12 percent in December from the previous month, but purchases for the year were the lowest since 1997, according to an industry report released Thursday.
Last year’s sales dropped 4.8 percent to an annual pace of 4.9 million homes, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s only slightly lower than 2008, but still represents the lowest point in 13 years.
In December, however, sales picked up.
Last month, sales rose to an annually adjusted rate of 5.28 million, the highest pace since May and well ahead of the 4.87 million median projected by experts in a Bloomberg survey. Purchase activity remained 2.9 percent below where it was a year ago.
Low interest rates, relatively affordable prices and tentative optimism about the economy helped lure buyers last month, housing experts said. But the biggest drag on the housing market remains the nation’s high unemployment rate and the bloated supply of homes for sale, including aggressively priced foreclosures.
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