According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales in the US rose in October for the second straight month and are now above year-over-year levels for the first time in a year.

Home sales rose 1.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.26m in October from an upwardly-revised 5.18m in September. Sales are at their highest annual pace since September 2013 (also 5.26m) and are now above year-over-year levels (up 2.5% from last October) for the first time since last October. 

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the housing market in the US this year has been a tale of two halves: “Sales activity in October reached its highest annual pace of the year as buyers continue to be encouraged by interest rates at lows not seen since last summer, improving levels of inventory and stabilising price growth. Furthermore, the job market has shown continued strength in the past six months. This bodes well for solid demand to close out the year and the likelihood of additional months of year-over-year sales increases.”

The median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $208,300, which is 5.5% higher than a year ago. This marks the 32nd consecutive month of year-over-year price gains.