Mortgage rates hovering around all-time lows helped existing-homes unexpectedly rise in October, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Total existing-home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million, which was a 2.1 percent increase from September and 10.9 percent year-over-year gain.
Additionally, the median sales price on an existing-home jumped 11.1 percent from last October to $178,600. This marked the eighth straight month of annual gains.
"Home sales continue to trend up and most October transactions were completed by the time the storm hit, but the growing demand with limited inventory is pressuring home prices in much of the country," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
Damages from Hurricane Sandy could potentially slow sales activity in the Northeast for the next couple months, Yun added.
Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies & Co, told Bloomberg that now is a great time to buy if you can get credit, as housing and borrowing is cheap. Jefferies & Co projected a 4.8 million annual rate for October sales of existing-homes.
