Sales of existing homes inched up in November but prices continued to erode, suggesting that the housing market may be stabilizing for now, but not rebounding anytime soon.
The National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that sales of previously owned homes were up 0.6 percent from October but down 10.7 percent from November 2005. The October and November figures show the first back-to-back sales gains since spring 2005, when the market began to soften.
But the median price for existing homes dropped to $218,000 in November, down 3.1 percent from November 2005, when it was $225,000. Median sales prices have fallen four months in a row, the longest stretch ever when comparing year-to-year figures.
“The first signs of a recovery are at hand,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “But we’re at the beginning of what will be a very long end to the housing correction. We’ll probably see further declines in housing prices throughout most of 2007.”
On Wednesday, the government reported an unexpected 3.4 percent increase in new-home sales in November. Some analysts attributed the bounce in home sales to a three-quarter-percentage-point decline in mortgage interest rates since June.
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