Home sales jumped in October

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The National Association of Realtors said home sales jumped last month, and buying activity is likely to rise as the market climbs out of a prolonged slump. Existing home sales rose 3.4% in October, the group said. Sales rose 2.9% year-over-year for the first annual rise since July 2021 when Americans were still in the midst of a pandemic homebuying boom.

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The increase in October was largely fueled by more inventory of existing homes coming to market, giving prospective buyers more opportunities to jump off the sidelines, the group said. Unsold existing home inventory edged up to 1.37 million at the end of October, or about four months of unsold inventory. That's a 0.7% increase from the prior month, and a 19% surge from levels recorded last year, per the report. "The worst of the downturn in home sales could be over, with increasing inventory leading to more transactions. Additional job gains and continued economic growth appear assured, resulting in growing housing demand," Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of NAR, said in a statement

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Buyers, though, are still challenged by affordability issues. Despite higher inventory levels, existing home prices have continued to rise, with the median existing home price climbing 4% in October to $407,200. It marks the 16th-straight month of price increases, the group added, attesting to the tightness of available supply on the marke

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