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The National Association of Realtors, which last month said it had overstated sales data from 2007 onwards lower by 14%, said December sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million. November sales were revised down to 4.39 million, from an initially reported 4.42 million.
Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist, said lower mortgage rates, improved jobs conditions and rising rents have helped lift sales figures, though he noted that December 2010 also was strong before petering out later.
For all of 2011, sales edged up 1.7% to 4.26 million — compared to the 2005 peak of 7.08 million. Median sales prices in December fell 2.5% from the same period of 2010 to $164,500.
For the year, median prices were $166,100, down 3.9% to return back to 2002 levels. 
Inventories — generally low in the winter months — fell 9.2% to 2.38 million, the lowest since March 2005, which represents 6.2 months of supply. The months of supply of inventory were the lowest inventory since April 2006.
Distressed sales accounted for 32% of sales, up from 29% in November.