According to The National Association of Realtors® (NAR), existing home sales increased by 1.0% in December 2013 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.87 million, up from 4.82 million in November. However, last month’s figure is down by 0.6%, below the 4.90 million unit pace from December 2012.

Last month’s numbers represented all-time lows for the entire year. The numbers represented a 4.2% drop from October 2013, and broke a 29-month streak of outpacing sales from the same month, one year prior. This past December was the second consecutive month that showed a decrease in year-over-year figures.

In its entirety, the NAR says 2013 was a positive year for existing home sales and that its numbers have been the strongest in seven years. There were 5.09 million existing home sales, which is 9.1% higher than in 2012 and close to the numbers from the 2006 housing boom, when it hit 6.48 million.

The median price for existing home sales was $197,100. That number was 11.5% above the 2012 prices and represented the strongest gain since 2005, when prices rose 12.4%. Factors that may have led to diminishing numbers at the end of 2013 include limited job growth and low inventory.

Existing home sales fluctuated by region last month, with the Northeast and Midwest falling by 1.5% and 4.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, the South and West saw their numbers increase by 3.0% and 4.8%, respectively.