Washington - US sales of existing homes climbed 5.5 per cent in September to the highest level in a year as ongoing price declines have apparently begun peaking the interest of buyers, according to new data released Friday.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said home resales stood at 5.18 million in September, up from 4.91 million in August and 5.11 million a year earlier. The average price of homes dropped 9 per cent from September 2007.

The housing downturn has been at the heart of a credit crisis that has cost financial institutions more than 500 billion dollars in writedowns of mortgage-related assets, severely restricted the availability of credit throughout the economy and threatened to plunge the world into recession.

The improvement in home sales comes amid a record rate of foreclosures that has put many more new homes on the market. Data firm RealtyTrac reported Thursday that home foreclosures climbed to 765,558 in the third quarter, up 71 per cent from the year earlier period.

Home sales were forecast to rise to only 4.95 million in September, according to a survey by Bloomberg financial news service.

Credit tightened at the end of September, but the improvement demonstrates that buyers who've been on the sidelines want to get into the market to make a long-term investment in their future," said NAR President Richard F Gaylord in a statement. (dpa)