CHICAGO, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Existing U.S. home sales hit a record 6.68 million in 2004, up 9.4 percent, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
It was the fourth-consecutive annual home sales record.
Existing single-family home sales were 6.1 million in 2003. The NAR began tracking home sales in 1968.
However, existing home sales fell 3.3 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million units in November.
Low interest rates on mortgages are boosting home sales, NAR President Al Mansell said.
Regionally, Midwest home resales rose 1.4 percent from November to an annual rate of 1.41 million units in December, up 3.7 percent from a year ago. Northeast existing-home sales rose 1.4 percent in December to a pace of 750,000 units, and were 4.2 percent higher than a year earlier.
Existing-home sales in the South declined 4.2 percent in December to an annual rate of 2.71 million units, but were 6.3 percent higher than a year ago.
The home resale pace in the West fell 7.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.81 million units in December, but was up 4 percent over December 2003.
