Money | home sales Home Sales Jump 7.4% November figures up a record 44% from 2008 By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Dec 22, 2009 9:14 AM CST Copied A "sold" sign is shown outside a home in Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Home resales surged to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. The National Association of Realtors says sales rose 7.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million in November, from a downwardly revised pace of 6.09 million in October. Sales were 44% above last year's levels, a record jump. They had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 6.25 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The median sales price was $172,600, down 4.3% from a year earlier, and up 0.2% from October. Read These Next A Virginia politician was set on fire at his office. One wrong step costs teen at Yellowstone. An arrest has been made in the Devil's Den murders. Delta sued after masturbation videos end up on child's lost iPad. Report an error