Existing home sales in November likely slipped 0.9% to a 5.21 millionunit annual rate. November sales of existing homes likely fell 0.9% to a 5.21 million-unit annual rate following two monthly increases. Pending sales contracts fell 1.1% in October and are running below July levels, tempering the outlook for existing home sales. In addition, mortgage applications for home purchase loans, having fallen since August, declined at a steep 9.0% in November. Despite the November pick-up in the Housing Market Index (HMI) as well as lower mortgage rates, which dipped to 4.0% on average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages in ... (full story)