U.S. existing-home sales up 1.1 percent in 2017

CHICAGO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. existing-home sales increased 1.1 percent in 2017 despite of a decline in December, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Wednesday.

Last year's 5.51 million sales surpassed the 5.45 million in 2016 and was the highest since 2006, according to the association.

"Existing sales concluded the year on a softer note, but they were guided higher these last 12 months by a multi-year streak of exceptional job growth, which ignited buyer demand," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Total existing-home sales refers to completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops.

But in the last month of 2017, existing-home sales slipped 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million from a downwardly revised 5.78 million in November. After last month's decline, sales are still 1.1 percent above a year ago.

Still, Yun said that market conditions were far from perfect.

"New listings struggled to keep up with what was sold very quickly, and buying became less affordable in a large swath of the country. These two factors ultimately muted what should have been a stronger sales pace," Yun added.

According to NAR, the median existing-home price for all housing types in December was 246,800 U.S. dollars, up 5.8 percent from December 2016. December's price increase marks the 70th straight month of year-over-year gains.

Total housing inventory at the end of 2017 dropped 11.4 percent to 1.48 million existing homes available for sale, and is now 10.3 percent lower than a year ago (1.65 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 31 consecutive months, said the association.

First-time buyers were 32 percent of sales in December, up from 29 percent in November and unchanged from a year ago.

NAR said that properties typically stayed on the market for 40 days in December, which was unchanged from November and down from 52 days a year ago. Enditem