Home sales increased in October, rising in each of the country’s four major regions, according to the National Association of Realtors. Their monthly measure of how many existing homes were sold showed a 2 percent increase over the previous month – which brings sales to their fastest pace since June. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the housing market is benefiting from a strong job market and increasing wages. “Job growth in most of the country continues to carry on at a robust level and is starting to slowly push up wages, which is in turn giving households added assurance that now is a good time to buy a home,” Yun said. “While the housing market gained a little more momentum last month, sales are still below year-ago levels because low inventory is limiting choices for prospective buyers and keeping price growth elevated.” For fall buyers, low inventory means good homes may not stay on the market very long. In fact, the NAR’s research found 47 percent of homes sold in October were on the market for less than a month.
