Existing Homes Sales Rise in September

WASHINGTON D.C. - U.S. sales of existing homes rose in September to the third-highest pace on record, according to a report released Monday.

The 3.1 percent increase brought sales last month to 6.75 million single-family houses at an annual rate from 6.55 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said in Washington. The pace was a record 6.92 million in June. The association forecasts 2004 to be the best year ever for sales.

The median forecast called for resales to fall to 6.51 million from a previously reported 6.54 million for August. The 58 estimates ranged from 6.25 million to 6.85 million. Resales account for 85 percent of the residential real-estate market in the U.S. Sales were a record 6.1 million last year. The association forecast on Oct. 5 that sales this year would climb to 6.49 million in 2004 before easing back.

The median selling price of an existing home in the U.S. was $186,600 last month, down from $188,800 in August, for the lowest since May.

The inventory of houses for sale slipped to 4.4 months' supply from 4.5 months. The number had dropped to 4.2 months in June.

Sales rose in all regions except the South, a decline that the association attributed to the three hurricanes that pummeled the state.

Sales rose 4.1 percent in the Northeast to an annual rate of 760,000; 3.7 percent in the Midwest to 1.39 million and 7.8 percent in the West to 1.93 million. They fell 0.7 percent in the South to 2.67 million.

David Lereah, chief economist for the real-estate association, said September resales were down 20 percent to 30 percent in the metropolitan areas in Florida that were affected by the hurricanes.