A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Friday showed existing home sales in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in the month of December.
NAR said existing home sales shot up by 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.24 million in December after surging by 4.7 percent to a rate of 4.15 million in November.
With the bigger than expected increase, existing home sales reached their highest level since hitting an annual rate of 4.38 million last February.
The report said housing inventory at the end of December totaled 1.15 million units, down 13.5 percent from 1.33 million units in November but up 16.2 percent from 990,000 units in the same month a year ago.
The unsold inventory represents 3.3 months of supply at the current sales pace, down from 3.8 months in November but up from 3.1 months in December 2023.
NAR also said the median existing home price was $404,400 in December, unchanged from November but up 6.0 percent from $381,400 a year ago.