Existing home sales rose 2.1% in October, compared to September, according to data released on Monday by the National Association of Realtors.

October’s sales jumped 10.9% over last year. The annual sales pace for existing homes rose to 4.79 million units last month, up from a 4.69 million annual rate for the previous month, the Los Angeles Times noted.

Existing home sales rose in all regions, except the Northeast, which saw sales drop 1.7%, possibly the result of Hurricane Sandy, which battered New York, New Jersey and Connecticut late last month.

As more existing home sold, the national median home price rose to $178,600, up 11.1% from the same time in 2011. That marked the eight consecutive monthly year-over-year increases.

The inventory of homes for sales also fell. In October, 2.14 million existing homes were on the market, down 1.4% from the prior month. At the current sales pace, it would take 5.4 months to exhaust the inventory of existing homes.

Short sales and foreclosures comprised 24% of last month’s exiting home sales, a 28% reduction from October 2011.

Homebuilder stocks were buoyed by the news. Shares of D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) rose almost 2% in Monday morning trading, while Ryland Group (NYSE:RYL) rose fractionally.