Sales of previously owned homes rose in December for the third straight month, bringing the supply of homes listed for sale to the lowest level since 2006.

The National Association of Realtors said in its monthly report that nationally, the annual sale rate in December was 4.61 million after seasonal adjustments, up from a downwardly revised 4.39 million in November.

Last month's estimate was up 3.6 percent from December 2010.

December's estimate of the annual rate is the final for the year, and the 4.6 million homes for 2011 came in ahead of 2010's 4.19 million sales.

“Record low mortgage interest rates, job growth and bargain home prices are giving more consumers the confidence they need to enter the market,” Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist, said about the December and 2011 data.