U.S. Existing Homes Sales Rise In September

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. increased 9.4 percent in September, marking the fifth month out of the last six that sales increased, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported October 23, 2009.

The home sales data includes single-family, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops.

“Much of the momentum is from people responding to the first-time buyer tax credit, which is freeing many sellers to make a trade and buy another home,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist said.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 4.4 percent. In the Midwest sales jumped 9.6 percent. The South saw existing-home sales rise 9 percent, and existing-home sales in the West surged 13 percent.