Today’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in December were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.61 million units which is an increase of 5.0 percent from the month before and an increase of 3.6 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold in December was 350,000 which is 4.5 percent more than the month before and 1.4 percent more than December 2010 when there were 345,000 homes sold.

Home prices increase for first time in 6 months….

The median home price in the U.S. in December was $164,500,an increase of 2.3 percent from the month before and a decrease of 2.5 percent from a year ago when the median price was $168,800.

Supply and Inventory of Homes for sale drop….

The number of existing homes on the market decreased in December by 9.2 percent from the previous month to 2.38 million homes,and is down 21.2 percent from a year ago when there were 3.020 million homes for sale. The months supply of homes on the market decreased by 13.9 percent to 6.2 months from 7.2 months the month before and is down 23.5 percent from a year ago when the supply was 8.1 months.

The following are the ACTUAL Existing Home sales for Decmeber,2011 reported by NAR without any adjustment or fluff:

• There were 350,000 existing homes sold during the month which is an increase of 4.5 percent from the month before and a 1.4 percent increase from a year ago.
• Below are highlights from each region for the month;
  • Northeast –44,000 homes sold,an increase of 10.0 percent from the prior month a increase of 2.3 percent from the year before.
  • Midwest - 76,000 homes sold,an increase of 11.8 percent from the prior month and an increase of 7.0 percent from the year before.
  • South - 137,000 homes sold,an increase of 3.8 percent from the prior month and an increase of 0.7 percent from the year before.
  • West –93,000 homes sold,a decrease of 2.1 percent from the prior month and a decrease of 2.1 percent from the year before.

Other highlights of the NAR Report for December 2011:

• Distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) accounted for 32 percent of all home sales for the month (19 percent were foreclosures and 13 percent short sales),up from 29 percent the month before.
• First-Time homebuyers accounted for 31 percent of the home sales for the month,down from 35 percent the month before.
• Investors were the buyers of 21 percent of the homes for the month,up from 19 percent the month before.
• Repeat home buyers were responsible for approximately 48 percent of the month’s sales,up from 46 percent the month before.
• Cash buyers were 31 percent of all sales for the month,up from 28 percent the month before.