Total sales of existing homes in 2012 reached the highest level in five years, and the annual gain in prices was the greatest in eight years, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The Washington, D.C.-based trade group says nationwide home sales in December slowed from the previous month, down by 1 percent, but December sales were up 12.8 percent from a year ago.
For all of 2012, NAR says 4.65 million existing homes changed owners, up 9.2 percent from total sales in the previous year.
The nationwide median sales price of an existing home last year was $176,600, up 6.3 percent from 2011.
The Charlotte market has experienced a similar rebound. As previously reported, figures from the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association show closings up 23.4 percent in December from a year earlier. The median sales price in the local market increased 2.5 percent in the same time period to $158,925 from $155,000.
“I’ve gone from cautiously optimistic to extremely optimistic,” Jennifer Frontera, president of the CRRA, told the Charlotte Business Journal in a recent interview. “But this is still such a fragile recovery.”
Pat Riley, president and chief operating officer of the Allen Tate Co., Charlotte's largest residential real estate firm, said 2012 was a stabilizing year for the industry, and he expects the recovery to continue in 2013.
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