Americans'e-buying in November nudged the seasonally adjusted annual rate up to 315,000, a small but measaurable rise of 1.6 percent from the rate in October.

Friday's data from the Census Bureau marked the third consecutive month-to-month increase in the annual rate. The selling clip was 9.8 percent above the rate measured a year ago.

The increase was uneven, however, with the regional rates going up in the South and Midwest and down in the West and the Northeast. The changes were -26.3 percent in the Northeast, +7.5 percent in the Midwest, +12.9 percent in the South and -16.9 percent in the West.

The National Association of Home Builders was buoyed warned  that financing could kill the growth streak.

"Our concern is that overly restrictive lending conditions for both builders and buyers will constrain this growth and postpone the arrival of a recovery in housing and the overall economy,” NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen said in a statement from the organization.

Prices were up last month, too, the Census Bureau said. The median price was $214,100; the average sales price was $242,900.

At the end of the month, builders had a six-month inventory of built homes based on November's annual sales rate.