Home Sales Rise to Seven-Month High as Mortgage Rates Ease

U.S. existing-home sales climbed in September to their strongest pace since February as buyers took advantage of slightly lower mortgage rates, a sign that the housing market may be thawing after a long freeze.

Sales of previously owned homes rose 1.5 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That matched economists’ expectations and reversed the prior month’s decline.

The increase reflected contracts signed earlier in the summer, when mortgage rates began to edge down from near-7 percent levels. The average 30-year fixed rate has since fallen to 6.19 percent…

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