Home resales in the South skyrocketed last month as first-time buyers hurried to grab an expiring federal tax credit while exploiting low prices and mortgage rates. The South recorded 176,000 home sales in November, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, up 48 percent from a year earlier when the nation was dizzied by the financial market meltdown. All 19 Southern cities covered by the Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report showed sales increases compared with last November. [Read this article]

