Home Resales Climb During September

WASHINGTON — Sales of existing homes, bolstered by falling prices and low mortgage rates, climbed 4.4% in September to the highest rate in seven years, a real estate trade group reported Monday.

Existing single-family homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.77 million units last month, up from an August sales pace of 3.61 million units, according to the monthly survey by the National Assn. of Realtors.

The median sales price for an existing home dropped $1,200 from August to September, the third decline in the past four months. The survey found the median price was $79,700 last month, down 4.2% from the high point this year of $83,200 in May.

Analysts said the lower home prices and further declines in mortgage interest rates had helped spur home sales to their highest level since October, 1979.