Existing home sales rise 10 percent

Existing home sales rose again in September, indicating that the U.S. housing market is in the early stages of recovery, the National Association of Realtors said. Existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 10 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million in September, from a downwardly revised rate of 4.12 million in August. “A housing recovery is taking place but will be choppy at times depending on the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “But the overall direction should be a gradual rising trend in home sales with buyers responding to historically low mortgage interest rates and very favorable affordability conditions.” The national median existing home price for all housing types was $171,700 in September, 2.4 percent below prices in September 2009. Distressed homes accounted for 35 percent of sales in September compared with 34 percent in August. TRD