The median U.S. home price fell by a record 15.3 percent in December compared to the same month a year earlier, despite the pace of sales of existing homes rising by 6.5 percent during the month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. The median national home price fell more than 15 percent from a year earlier, the biggest decline since the NAR started keeping records and likely the largest since the Great Depression of the 1930s, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters. Existing-home sales increased to a 4.74 million unit annual rate from 4.45 million units in November. For all of 2008, existing-home sales fell 13.1 percent to 4.91 million units, the lowest level since 1997. The inventory of existing homes for sale fell 11.7 percent to 3.68 million units from 4.16 million in November. That represented 9.3 months of supply at December's sales pace.
