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January 25, 2006 1:30 PM, EST

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xisting home sales fell 5.7% in December to the lowest level in almost two years, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

The drop to a 6.6 million annual rate from November’s 6.97 million was a bigger drop than economists’ forecasts of a decline to a 6.87 million million-unit rate, Bloomberg reported.

It was the third straight monthly decline in existing home sales. The rate was the lowest since March 2004.

June’s 7.35 million rate last year was a record pace for existing home sales, and the year finished at an all-time high of 7.072 million, NAR said.

Sales fell in all three of national regions, staying flat in the Northeast, NAR said.

Existing home sales account for 85% of the residential real estate market in the United States. When a home is sold, trucks are usually used to transport household appliances and furniture.