Home Sales Jump 7.4%

Home resales surged to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. The National Association of Realtors says sales rose 7.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million in November, from a downwardly revised pace of 6.09 million in October.

Sales were 44% above last year's levels, a record jump. They had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 6.25 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The median sales price was $172,600, down 4.3% from a year earlier, and up 0.2% from October. (More home sales stories.)