Home resales surged to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

The National Association of Realtors says sales rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million in November, from a downwardly revised pace of 6.09 million in October.

Sales were 44 percent above last year's levels, a record jump. They had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 6.25 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The median sales price was $172,600, down 4.3 percent from a year earlier, and up 0.2 percent from October.