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.

As the end of the year neared its end and with most people distracted by holiday and family events, mortgage activity was listless and rates were mixed for the week ended December 22 (Freddie Mac) and December 23 (Mortgage Bankers Association.)

Happily, for those still hoping to buy or refinance a house in early 2006, rates, while trending upward, are doing so very slowly and during this most recent week most rates were down a bit.

According to Freddie Mac's Weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage during the week was 6.26 percent with 0.6 in fees and points. This rate was four basis points lower than that reported for the week ended December 15 although fees and points were up from 0.5.