By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Sales of existing homes climbed 10% in September, the second month in a row of gains, according to a report released Monday.
The National Association of Realtors said sales rose 10% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million, from a downwardly revised 4.12 million in August.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a smaller gain, to 4.39 million.
Nonetheless, sales are 19% below the 5.6 million unit pace in September 2009, when first-time buyers were ramping up in advance of the initial deadline for the tax credit last November.
“A housing recovery is taking place but will be choppy at times depending on the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium. 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,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR.
