Housing Resales Climb 7%

Sales of existing homes jumped 7% in August to an annual rate of 3.69 million units, the fastest sales pace of this decade, a real estate trade group reported today.

The National Assn. of Realtors said its monthly survey found that declines in mortgage rates helped spur sales in August following a smaller 1.8% increase in July. The increase pushed the annual rate of sales to its highest level since October, 1979, when a pace of 3.77 million units was recorded.