Sales of existing homes in October soared well past expectations, rising 4.3% compared with September and 26.6% annually to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.85 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, called the annual increase “a spectacular gain.”
The annualized sales rate is the highest since February 2006. The highest pace ever was in 2005 at 7.1 million units.