TRAVERSE CITY — Existing home sales across the U.S. resumed an upward path in November and bettered home sales activity in the five-county region.

Local homes sales slumped in November, despite sales gains across the country, according to sales data from the five-county region generated by the Traverse Area Association of Realtors.

The 163 houses sold in November in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Antrim and Kalkaska counties represented a 16 percent drop from October and a 22 percent decline from November 2009.

But the region remains on pace for its best sales year since 2006, with 1,886 residential units sold through November. That’s 3.8 percent ahead of last year.

Kim Pontius, executive vice president for TAAR, attributed November’s local sales dip to two factors. One was a temporary freeze by some financial institutions this fall on foreclosure activity that temporarily kept some potential bargain-seekers on the sidelines, plus a typical seasonal slowdown in residential sales.

“Seasonally, we have that normal slowing down in the market as we go into the winter months,” Pontius said.

Homes in the five-county area are spending slightly less time on the market than last year, according to TAAR statistics. Homes were listed for sale for an average of just under six months, an improvement of almost 4 percent from a year ago.

Nationally, existing home sales rose 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million in November from 4.43 million in October, but are 27.9 percent below the cyclical peak of 6.49 million in November 2009, which was the initial deadline for a first-time buyer federal tax credit. The statistics include completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $170,600 in November, up 0.4 percent from November 2009. Distressed homes have been a fairly stable market share, accounting for 33 percent of sales in November; they were 34 percent in October and 33 percent in November 2009.

Locally, the median sale price for November was $135,000, a decline of more than 9 percent from October, but up almost 4 percent from the median sales price from November 2009. The year-to-date median sales price is $137,350, a 5.6 percent increase from 2009.

Regionally, existing home sales in the Midwest increased 6.4 percent in November to a level of 1 million but are 35.1 percent below the year-ago surge. The median price in the Midwest was $138,900, down 1.1 percent from November 2009.

“Continuing gains in home sales are encouraging, and the positive impact of steady job creation will more than trump some negative impact from a modest rise in mortgage interest rates, which remain historically favorable,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

A parallel NAR survey shows first-time buyers purchased 32 percent of homes in November, the same as in October, but are below a 51 percent share in November 2009 from the surge to beat the initial deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit. Investors accounted for 19 percent of national transactions in November, also unchanged from October, but are up from 12 percent in November 2009; the balance of sales were to repeat buyers. All-cash sales were at 31 percent in November, up from 29 percent in October and 19 percent from a year ago.

Wire services contributed to this report.