First-time buyers drive U.S. existing home sales in September

Existing home sales in the United States rebounded in September boosted by increasing first-time buyers, ending a two-straight month fall, an industry report showed Thursday.

Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 3.2 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million in September, 0.6 percent above a year ago, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The strong sales of existing home in September were propelled by sales from first-time buyers reaching a 34-percent share, which is a high not seen in over four years, said the NAR.

"There's hope the leap in sales to first-time buyers can stick through the rest of the year and into next spring," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.

"The market fundamentals, primarily consistent job gains and affordable mortgage rates, are there for the steady rise in first-timers need to finally reverse the decline in the homeownership rate," said Yun.

Total housing inventory at the end of September rose 1.5 percent to 2.04 million existing homes available for sales, which represents a 4.5-month supply at the current sales pace, lower than the 4.6 months in August.

The median existing home price for all housing types in September was 234,200 U.S. dollars, 5.6 percent above the level a year ago, the 55th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. Endit