U.S. home re-sales rose in October, a private housing group reported Monday, signaling that improvements in the labor market are helping the housing sector recovery gain momentum. The National Association of Homebuilders (NAR) said existing-home sales climbed 2.1 percent last month to an annual rate of 4.79 million units, surpassing Wall Street expectations. The country's inventory of existing homes for sale fell 1.4 percent in October to 2.14 million, the lowest level since December 2002. At the current sales pace, inventories would be exhausted in 5.4 months, the lowest rate since February 2006. The median home price rose in October and now is 11.1 percent above a year earlier. The data suggests the recovery from the 2007-2009 Great Recession is becoming increasingly self-sustaining, with job creation helping drive home sales, which in turn are supporting economic growth. However, the data also showed that superstorm Sandy, a huge storm that hit the U.S. east coast on October 29, continues to distort economic data. The storm, which hit New Jersey as a hurricane before combining with a winter storm, had only a slight impact on October home re-sales, but NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said Sandy could temporarily slow sales in November and December.
