The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing home sales in October rose 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.26 million from an upwardly revised total of 5.18 million in September. The sales rate is the highest since September 2013.

Sales were up 2.5% year-over-year for the month. October sales mark the first time since last October that monthly sales rose above year-ago levels.

The consensus estimate called for sales to reach 5.15 million, according to a survey of economists polled by Bloomberg.

Housing inventory declined 2.6% in September to 2.22 million homes, which is equal to a supply of 5.1 months. That is down from a 5.3-month supply in September and down from last month’s total of 2.30 million homes. Unsold inventory is up 5.2%, compared with October 2013 when there were 2.11 million existing homes for sale.

According to the NAR, the national median existing home price in October was $208,300, down about 0.6% sequentially and up 5.5% compared with October 2013. Last month marked the 32nd consecutive month of rising home prices.

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NAR’s chief economist said:

Sales activity in October reached its highest annual pace of the year as buyers continue to be encouraged by interest rates at lows not seen since last summer, improving levels of inventory and stabilizing price growth. Furthermore, the job market has shown continued strength in the past six months.

Sales of single-family homes rose 1.3% from September at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.63 million, up 2.9% compared with October a year ago. Sales of multi-family homes rose 3.3% year-over-year to an annual rate of 630,000.

Foreclosed and short sales accounted for 9% of October sales, down from 10% in September and down from 14% in October 2013. Foreclosures sold at an average 15% discount to the October median price, and short sales also sold at a discount of 10%.

Existing, non-distressed homes were on the market for an average of 61 days, higher than the September figure of 56 days, as well as higher than the 54 days it took to sell a house in October of 2013. Foreclosed homes were on the market for an average of 68 days, and short sales took a median of 150 days to sell.

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