Palm Beach County’s home-sales surge took a break in November.
Buying dipped 2 percent, to 450 existing homes from 459 last year, the Florida Association of Realtors said Tuesday. It was the first time since June that sales were down compared with the same month a year ago.
Analysts point to the county’s 7.6 percent unemployment rate in November as the reason for the slide. It’s by far the highest jobless rate in South Florida and the county’s worst since 1994.
Mortgage rates dropped in the past week to 5 percent or lower, but prospective buyers are expected to remain on the sidelines because lenders still are tightening credit, and more workers are getting pink slips.
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