Record Home Sales in December

A rush to take advantage of expiring tax breaks helped push sales of existing homes to an all-time monthly high in December, closing out the best year for home resales since 1979, a real-estate trade group reported today.

The National Assn. of Realtors said existing single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units last month, 6.6% higher than November and the highest monthly sales pace on record.