By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
Existing home sales declined considerably in November although the National Association of Realtors®, in reporting the data, blamed in part new disclosure rules that may have delayed some closings. Whatever the reason, the November closed transaction numbers were the lowest in 19 months.
Sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and cooperative apartments were down 10.5 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million. It was the largest slowdown in sales since July 2010 when the monthly drop was 22.5 percent (post-expiration of homebuyer tax credit). Sales in October were revised down from the 5.36 million units reported last month to 5.32 million.
