The National Association of Realtors reported that the existing home sales in the United States unexpectedly declined in November 2018. The sales plunged to the lowest level since 2014. At the same time, the association’s analysts believe that the outlook for the American housing market is bright and a rise in activity is expected.
The NAR report also showed that the pending home sales index decreased by 0.7% while a rise of 0.7% was expected. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, thinks a fall in the existing home sales is not a reason for concern even with the sluggish pending sales. He predicted a significant rise in sales in the longer term. The economist said that the volume of existing home sales reached as high as 5.3 million units in the previous year. Last time such a figure was registered in 2000. “But given the 17 million more jobs now compared to the turn of the century, the home sales are clearly underperforming today. That also means there is steady longer-term growth potential,” Mr. Yun said.
