Existing Home Sales Fall in December, Rise for Year

Existing homes sales 17% in December but rose last year for the fist time in four years, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

December Sales fell to an annual rate of 5.45 million homes, from 6.54 million in November, the group said in its monthly report. It was the biggest monthly decline in 40 years, the Associated Press reported.

Economists had forecast home resales would fall to an annual rate of 5.9 million, Bloomberg reported.

For the year, existing home sales rose 4.9% to 5.16 million, the first gain in four years.