According to the National Association of Realtors' chief economist, David Lereah, a prolonged slide in mortgage interest rates culminated in rising sales activity.

The association projects existing-home sales will reach a record of 5.47 million this year, an increase of 3.2 percent from 2001.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.09 percent in September, down from 6.29 percent in August and also down from 6.82 percent in September 2001. Last month was the lowest mortgage interest rate since the Freddie Mac series began in 1971.

National Association of Realtors President Martin Edwards Jr. said the housing sector is proving to be resilient to negative news.

The national median existing-home price was $159,000 in September, up 7.9 percent from September 2001, when the median price was $147,400. In California, the median-priced home was $323,310, down slightly compared to August 2002, but up by 17.3 percent from $275,620 in September one year ago. The median-priced home locally showed Saratoga at $1,225,000, Los Gatos at $765,000 and Cupertino at $786,000. The median is the midpoint, which is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to jnewton@jnpr.com.