Sales of existing homes in the United States rose in September to the highest level in more than two years, Bloomberg reported.

Purchases climbed 9.4 percent to a 5.57 million annual rate, exceeding the 5.35 million annual rate forecast by 76 economists in a Bloomberg News survey following an initially reported 5.1 million rate in August.

An $8,000 credit for first-time buyers, set to expire Nov. 30, has likely spurred sales and construction, as home buyers rush to meet the deadline.

“The rush to take advantage of the tax credit is obviously pushing up sales,” said Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, who forecast sales would rise to a 5.5 million pace. “Although this is going to be temporary, it does absorb some excess supply and helps bring the market into balance going forward.”

Lawmakers are being lobbied by The National Association of Realtors and National Association of Home Builders to extend the incentive, and they are considering such a proposal.

“The work of stabilizing the housing market won’t be done” when the credit expires next month, said Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, during a hearing. “We still need to use every tool at our disposal to fix this problem.”

A contracting number of houses on the market contributed to the smallest decrease in the median price of existing homes in 13 months, to $174,900, which is down 8.5 percent from a year ago. <a href = "

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