Investing.com - U.S. existing home sales rose more-than-expected in November, while the previous month’s figure was revised down, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose by 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted 5.04 million units in November from October’s revised total of 4.76 million. October existing home sales were initially reported at 4.79 million units.
Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to rise 2.3% to 4.87 million units in November.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is healthy market demand.
“With lower rental vacancy rates and rising rents, combined with still historically favorable affordability conditions, more people are buying homes. Areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy show storm-related disruptions but overall activity in the Northeast is up, offset by gains in unaffected areas,” he said.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.38% to trade at 1.3277.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets were modestly lower after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.1%, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.1%.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose by 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted 5.04 million units in November from October’s revised total of 4.76 million. October existing home sales were initially reported at 4.79 million units.
Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to rise 2.3% to 4.87 million units in November.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is healthy market demand.
“With lower rental vacancy rates and rising rents, combined with still historically favorable affordability conditions, more people are buying homes. Areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy show storm-related disruptions but overall activity in the Northeast is up, offset by gains in unaffected areas,” he said.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to losses against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.38% to trade at 1.3277.
Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets were modestly lower after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.1%, the S&P 500 index dipped 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.1%.