U.S. existing home sales seem to have weakened slightly in November

The U.S. existing home sales are likely to have dropped in November after surprising on the upside in the prior month. In October, existing home sales rose 2 percent following a 3.6 percent rise in September, as sales of one-family homes had risen 2.3 percent. In the last two months, resales rose surprisingly by 5.7 percent given that the pending home sales index dropped 1.2 percent in August and September combined.

The rebound in resales might have indicated a longer processing time for applications made in earlier months. For instance, the pending home sales index rose 4.3 percent, almost similar to the 4.5 percent increase in existing home sales from February to October.

The pending index, in any case was slightly changed in October, and given that resales appeared to have exceeded the pending measure in the last few months, the print in November is expected to have weakened to around 5.46 million units, said Societe Generale in a research report.