Existing Home Sales Rises to Third Highest Level in September

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ales of previously owned houses rose 3.1% in September to the third-highest pace on record, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

The increase brought sales to 6.75 million at an annual rate from 6.55 million in August. The pace reached a record 6.92 million in June.

Sales were at a record 6.1 million last year, but the association said sales this year could climb to 6.49 million, Bloomberg reported.

Resales account for 85% of the residential real-estate market in the United States. When a home is sold, trucks are usually used to transport household appliances and furniture.

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

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

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