Home sales in U.S. take a slight dip in November

The national housing market paused for a gulp of air in November, when sales of existing single-family homes took a slide from record-high levels.

Sales slid 3.5% in November to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.56 million units from 5.76 million units in October, when sales posted the fourth-highest pace on record, according to a report released last week by the National Assn. of Realtors.

“There is a decline, but the level of activity is still the sixth-highest ever. The level of sales is still very strong,” said David Lereah, the association’s chief economist. November’s sales activity was 5.9% above the 5.25-million unit sales level of November 2001.

“Our projections indicate existing-home sales should be fluctuating at a pace in the range of 5.2 to 5.4 million for the coming year, so it’s no surprise to see sales coming off of the spike in October,” he said.

The fewer homes sold in November didn’t push the housing market off the track toward a record number of sales this year. Lereah said the total will top 5.5 million and “easily surpass” last year’s record of 5.3 million sales.