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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Existing home sales surged in October to the highest level in more than 2-1/2 years, according to a real estate industry report issued Monday.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales rose 10.1% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units, up from the downwardly revised rate of 5.54 million in September.

The sales beat forecasts of 5.7 million annual units, according to a consensus estimate of analysts compiled by Briefing.com, and were 23.5% above the 4.94 million-unit pace of 12 months ago.

Sales activity is the highest since February 2007, when the annual rate was 6.55 million.

The gain was likely due to an influx of buyers looking to take advantage of an $8,000 tax credit that the Obama administration made available for qualified first-time home buyers, the report said.

The tax credit was scheduled to expire at the end of November, but it has been extended to April 30 and expanded to include more home buyers.

"Many buyers have been rushing to beat the deadline ... and similarly robust sales may be occurring in November," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

But such a spike means December and early 2010 will probably see a "measurable decline before another surge in spring and early summer," Yun said.

The median price of homes sold in October was $173,100, a 7.1% year-over-year drop. Distressed properties comprised 30% of the houses sold during the month.

The sales increase helped reduce some of the supply of homes on the market. Total housing inventory fell 3.7% to 3.57 million existing homes for sale. That's a 7-month supply, down from an 8-month supply in September.

First Published: November 23, 2009: 10:08 AM ET

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The delinquency rate in New York state increased 73 basis points between the second and third quarters of the year, the overall percentage delinquencies was at 8.84 percent, according to seasonally-adjusted data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, released today. Nationwide, delinquencies on residential loans hit record-breaking levels in the third quarter this year. The delinquency for mortgages on U.S. residential properties with one-to-four units hit 9.64 percent in the quarter, according to the MBA. The figure is 265 basis points up from the same time period last year and up 40 points from the second quarter this year. The record had been set last quarter, when the delinquency rate was at 8.86 percent, but MBA experts said that prime and FHA loans, coupled with continued job losses nationwide, spurred delinquencies. "Despite the recession ending in mid-summer, the decline in mortgage performance continues," Jay Brinkmann, chief economist with MBA, said. "Job losses continue to increase and drive up delinquencies and foreclosures because mortgages are paid with paychecks, not percentage point increases in GDP." TRD
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