Home sales dip as interest rates tick up

Home sales and price appreciation slowed in the final months of 2003 because of rising interest rates. That prompted the National Assn. of Realtors to revise downward its estimate for the year’s house-price appreciation to 8%. It had been 9.1%.

The median price nationwide for a previously owned home likely will be $170,800, rising from $158,100 in 2002, the group said. That would be the biggest yearly gain since 1980, when prices rose 12% to $62,200. A month ago, the group had forecast a median price of $172,600 for last year.

Mortgage rates rose almost 1 percentage point from a 45-year low in June. In November, sales of previously owned homes fell 4.6% from the month before and the price of a home fell 0.5%, the trade group reported.

The finalized 2003 median U.S. home price will be reported next month.