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Existing home sales pick up
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November 25, 1998: 10:33 a.m. ET
Existing home sales jump 2.8 percent to 4.79 million unit-per-year rate
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The resale housing market took a turn for the better last month as lower interest rates brought buyers back into real estate offices, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the annual rate of existing home sales sped up 2.8 percent to 4.79 million units, from an annual rate of 4.68 million units in September.
The increase was even more dramatic from the October 1997 resale level of 4.38 million units, representing a 9.4 percent surge year over year.
Economists had predicted October home sales would rise about 1.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.75 million units.
However, bond traders, already ebullient ahead of a long holiday weekend, took little notice of the news. After the release, the 30-year Treasury bond was still trading at 100-26/32, up 8/32 on the morning to yield 5.19 percent.
NAR President Sharon A. Millett expected the upswing to continue, leading into a record sales level for 1998.
"We expect to close out 1998 at a record-setting level," she said. "The lowest mortgage interest rates in more than three decades, greater financial opportunities such as higher Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limits, and an increase in the number of financing products available to consumers today will continue to drive first-time buyers into the market."
The association kept last month's projection of 4.75 million existing home sales in 1998, which would make it the third year ever to break the 4-million mark.
The national median price for existing homes last month rose 5.2 percent from last October to $131,300.
At the same time, the national average commitment rate remained at its lowest since Freddie Mac began keeping records in 1971. For a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage, the rate dipped to 6.71 percent in October, down from 6.71 percent in September. 
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