°®¶¹´«Ã½

Existing home sales slipped 1% in December but remained near a three-year high, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

Sales fell to an annual rate of 4.94 million — the second-highest after November’s rate since November 2009, the group said.

The level was below economists’ forecasts of a 5.1 million rate, Bloomberg reported.

The rate dropped in part because the number of previously owned homes fell to 1.82 million, the fewest since January 2001, Bloomberg said.