In spite of a rough economny and continued unemployment woes, home sales rose in 2009. According to the National Association of Realtors®, there were approximately 5,156,000 existing-home sales in 2009, which was 4.9 percent higher than the 4,913,000 transactions recorded in 2008. It was the first annual sales gain since 2005.
Total housing inventory at the end of December fell 6.6 percent to 3.29 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.2-month supply at the current sales pace. That is an increase from a 6.5-month supply in November. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $178,300 in December, which is 1.5 percent higher than December 2008.
