After a much higher-than-expected pullback in November, existing home sales rose 2.4% in December to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 5.04 million units, from a downwardly revised 4.92 million in November, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.
The NAR added that total sales for 2014 fell by 3.1% from 2013.
According to consensus forecasts, economists expected sales to come in around 5.08 million for last month.
Looking at home prices, the association said in December that the median price for all existing housing types was $208.500, the highest levels since 2007 and a 5.8% increase from 2013 levels.
The NAR also noted a fall in inventories; the report said total housing inventories fell 11.1% to 1.85 million existing homes, which represents 4.4-month supply.
