Existing home sales unexpectedly jump in October

October Existing Home Sales: +4.3% to 6.85M vs. 6.47M consensus, 6.57M previous (revised from 6.54M).

That's up for a fifth straight month.

Median existing-home price was $313K, almost 16% higher than October 2019.

Total housing inventory shrank to 1.42M, enough to last 2.5  months, a record low, at the current sales pace.

More than 7 in 10 homes sold in October were on the market for less than a month.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun forecasts existing-home sales will rise by 10% in 2021.

"The surge in sales in recent months has now offset the spring market losses," he said. "With news that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available, and with mortgage rates projected to hover around 3% in 2021, I expect the market's growth to continue into 2021."