INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... The rest of the economy may be barely moving forward, but there's clearly some action in the housing market. In our area,(HOUSTON, HARRIS COUNTY,TEXAS)  New single-family home sales were up 5.7% for September and up 27.1% over a year ago. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 389,000 units is the strongest sales pace since April 2010. The median sales price was $242,400, up almost 12% versus a year ago. 145,000 new homes were on the market, a 4.5 months' supply at the current sales rate, down from a record 12.1 months in January 2009.

Following this news, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Pending Home Sales index was up 0.3% in September after a 2.3% August decline. This measure of contracts signed on existing homes is up 14.5% over a year ago, posting the 17th month in a row of annual gains. The NAR's chief economist feels that this steady year-over-year increase "is pointing in the right direction." The FHFA index of prices for homes financed with conforming mortgages was up 0.7% in August, up 4.8% from a year ago, and up at an 8.9% annual rate the last 6 months.