26/01/2005
Existing single-family home sales surged in 2004, well above the previous record set in 2003, while the December pace declined from a monthly record in November, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
There were a total of 6,675,000 existing-home sales in 2004, up 9.4 percent from 6,100,000 in 2003. This is the fourth consecutive annual record; NAR began tracking the sales series in 1968.
Existing-home sales slipped 3.3 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million units from a downwardly revised level of 6.92 million units in November, which was tied with June 2004 for the highest on record. Last month's sales activity was 5.0 percent higher than the 6.37-million unit level in December 2003 and was the sixth-highest monthly pace on record.