Home sales, at least those of existing homes, fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.97 million units in November according to the sales report issued on Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is a 1.7 percent decrease from the 7.09 million units sold in October. Sales were also off 0.1 percent from the 6.98 million level established in November, 2004.

David Lereah, NAR's chief economist said that rising interest rates were responsible for decreasing sales, but said that "The current pace of homes sales activity remains historically strong." He noted that only eight other months have seen a high rate of sales. He projected that 2006 would, in spite of the interest rate situation, mark the second best year for home sales (after 2005) since the NAR started keeping records.