by Calculated Risk on 1/15/2015 03:28:00 PM

From housing economist Tom Lawler:

Based on local realtor/MLS reports from across the country, I estimate that existing home sales as measured by the National Association of Realtors ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.15 million in December, up 4.5% from November’s pace and up 5.7% from last December’s pace.

On the inventory front, most realtor/MLS reports showed a bigger monthly decline this December compared to last December, and my “guesstimate” is that the NAR will report that the number of existing homes for sale at the end of December was 1,870, down 10.5% from November and up just 0.5% from last December.

Finally, local realtor/MLS data suggest that the national median existing SF home sales price last month was up by about 4.8% from a year earlier.

CR Note: Existing home sales for December will be released next week on Friday, January 23rd.