Existing-home sales set annual record in 2004

There were 6,675,000 existing-home sales in 2004, up 9.4 percent from 6,100,000 in 2003. This is the fourth consecutive record; NAR began tracking sales 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. December’s sales activity was 5 percent higher than the 6.37 million-unit level in December 2003 and was the sixth-highest monthly pace on record.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said a decline was expected in December. “Our sense was that November sales were the peak for the current housing cycle, but activity remains strong,” he said. “There is no sign of a downturn. Home sales will continue at historically high levels, and 2005 is expected to be the second-best year on record for the housing market.”

NAR President Al Mansell, CEO of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Salt Lake City, said market conditions are favorable. “Investment opportunities remain for potential home buyers,” he said.

According to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., also known as Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 5.75 percent in December, compared with 5.73 percent in November and 5.88 percent in December 2003. The average 30-year rate for all of 2004 was 5.84 percent, the second lowest annual average since Freddie Mac, started tracking interest rates in 1971; the lowest was 5.83 percent in 2003.

The national median existing-home price was $188,900 in December, up 8.1 percent from December 2003 when the median price was $174,800. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

For all of 2004, the median price was $184,100, up 8.3 percent from a median of $170,000 in 2003.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 1.4 percent from November to an annual rate of 1.41 million units in December, and were 3.7 percent above December 2003. The median price in the Midwest was $152,000, up 7.1 percent from 2003.

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