Lower Interest Rates Boost Home Sales

Falling mortgage rates helped boost sales of previously owned homes in September to the highest level in nearly two years.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of existing single-family homes climbed 0.7 percent last month, the fifth straight advance.

Sales of existing homes totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.15 million in September, the highest rate since January 1994.

Sales rose in the Northeast and Midwest but slipped in the South and West.