US: After 3 straight monthly declines, existing-home sales slightly reversed course in Sept

"After three straight monthly declines, existing-home sales slightly reversed course in September, but ongoing supply shortages and recent hurricanes muted overall activity and caused sales to fall back on an annual basis," said the National Association of Realtors in its latest report.

Key highlights:

• Total existing-home sales rose 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million in September from 5.35 million in August.
• Last month's sales pace is 1.5 percent below a year ago and is the second slowest over the past year (behind August).
• Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist: "Home sales in recent months remain at their lowest level of the year and are unable to break through, despite considerable buyer interest in most parts of the country."
• The median existing-home price for all housing types in September was $245,100, up 4.2 percent from September 2016 ($235,200).