The National Association of Realtors reported that the number of existing home sales in November rose modestly from October while the median price was 3% lower than last November. For the Western part of the US, sales rose faster than the average and the median price fell less than 1%. What does this mean? Here are some opinions.

Wachovia economist Phillip Neuhart sees the mild increase in sales as a firming in the foundation of the housing market."Now we're seeing a bit of leveling off…We are not going to reach too much into this report, but there is no question that the market has found some stability."

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But Jeoff Hall, chief U.S. economist for Thomson Financial, told CNNMoney.com that the market hasn't hit bottom yet."I do think we have reached some stability, but I wouldn't say we are destined to go higher…I don't think the bottom of the housing market will be realized until the first quarter of 2007. We still have an enormous supply of houses to sell."

As always, more than one viewpoint. Here on Maui, while generally inventory is relatively high and the pace of sales considerably slower than a year ago, in the high-end resort areas inventory has simply not expanded very much and seems quite manageable at this point.

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