Data recently released by the National Association of Realtors in the United States showed that existing home sales in the U.S. declined in December, against a backdrop of inventory falling to record lows, according to data released today.

The report noted that existing home sales fell by 2.8% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million units, compared with November’s level, which was revised upward to 5.65 million units, while analysts had expected existing home sales to fall to 5.51 million units.

Furthermore, total inventory in the last month of last year stood at 1.65 million units, the lowest level since 1999.The median price of existing homes in the United States was $232,200, an increase of 4% compared to the 2015 level of approximately $223,200.