Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes accelerated in September as declining mortgage rates and a pickup in available properties on the market encouraged home shoppers.

Existing home sales rose 1.5 percent last month from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s the fastest sales pace since February.

Sales jumped 4.1 percent compared with September last year. The latest sales figure came in slightly below the roughly 4.07 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

The national median sales price climbed 2.1 percent in September from a year earlier to $415,200. That’s the 27th consecutive month that home prices have risen on an annual basis and the highest median sales price for any S

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