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U.S. existing home sales disappoint in November, falling for the first time in five months

Anna Golubova

Kitco News

Kitco News has launched its 2021 Outlook, which offers the most comprehensive coverage of precious metals markets in the new year. Trillions of dollars were pumped into financial markets in 2020 and that won't come without consequences. Economists expect that investors will be Bracing For Inflation in 2021.

(Kitco News) Gold price remained largely unchanged as U.S. existing home sales came in below expectations in November, falling for the first time in five months.

Existing home sales dropped 2.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 6.69 million units, compared to October’s annualized rate of 6.86 million homes, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Tuesday.

The advance comes following an increase of 4.4% in October. Economists were expecting to see a decrease of 1% to 6.7 million units in November.

Gold prices did not see a significant move either way, with February Comex gold futures last trading at $1,879.0, down 0.20% on the day.

Despite the monthly drop, the annual pace of housing purchases is beating last year’s totals, said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

"Home sales in November took a marginal step back, but sales for all of 2020 are already on pace to surpass last year's levels," said Yun. "Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it's amazing that the housing sector is outperforming expectations."

The median price for all home types was $310,800, up 14.6% from last year, marking the 105th straight month of annual gains.

The total inventory was at 1.28 million units, down 9.9% from October and down 22% from last year’s total. This marks the lowest level of inventory since the tracking began in 1982.

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By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Contact agolubova@kitco.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.