**MNI 5 THINGS: US December Existing Home Sales Fell To 4.99m

--5 Things We Learned From The Existing Home Sales Data

By Kevin Kastner, Shikha Dave, and Harrison Clarke

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the December

existing home sales data released Tuesday by the National Association of

Realtors:

     - December existing home sales -6.4% to 4.99M vs 5.21M expected, while

November was revised up to 5.33M. The December pace was the slowest since

November 2015. For 2018 as a whole, sales fell to 5.34m from 5.51m in 2017,

which was a post-crisis high last year. The NAR noted some affordability issues

in 2018, particularly in the West. 2018 median sales price record $259,100

(+4.8% Y/Y, slowest rise since 2012).

     - December resales in Northeast -6.8%, Midwest -11.2%, South -5.4%, and

West -1.9%.

     - December home supply -10.9% to 1.55m, as is typical in December, but the

current month's supply was still +6.2% year/year. The months supply to fell to

3.7 months from 3.9 months in November, but was well ahead of the 3.2 months a

year ago. The increase in supply is helping to contain price growth.

     - National median sales price +2.9% y/y to $253,600 in December, the

smallest Y/Y gain since February 2012. NAR's Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noted

that home price growth has slowed to a pace at or below wage growth, a

turnaround from recent years where the price appreciation has been more than

twice the pace of wage growth.

     - A survey showed 75% of realtors had not seen a noticeable shutdown impact

yet, but it is expected to worsen the longer that the shutdown continues. Yun

said they will be continuing to check back with realtors on this issue.

--MNI Washington Bureau; tel: +1 202-371-2121; email: kevin.kastner@marketnews.com

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