Despite a seasonal slowdown in activity, the housing market continued to post some interesting metrics in October, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

One of most interesting was a rise in home purchases by investors despite declining numbers of foreclosures. Since hitting a 23.1 percent home purchase market share back in February, investor participation has tumbled through most of this year – hitting a three-year low of just 16.6 percent in August. The monthly rate is based on a three-month moving average.

But over the past two months, the investor share has actually risen, climbing to 16.9 percent in September and then 17.4 percent in October. The two-month rise in investor activity is significant given that it occurred at the same time that the proportion of distressed properties in the housing market has continued to fall.

The HousingPulse Distressed Properties Index, which reflects the share of home purchases involving real estate owned or short sales, fell to a four-year low of 24.1 percent in October based on a three-month moving average. This was down from 24.6 percent in September and 35.1 percent in October of 2012.

Among the other positive housing market metrics seen in the October HousingPulse results were continuing low average time-on-market for non-distressed properties and high average number of offers for non-distressed properties. The national average-time-on-market for non-distressed properties was 8.9 weeks in October, while the national average number of offers on non-distressed properties last month was 2.1.

The two negative housing market metrics that were apparent in the October HousingPulse results were a slowdown in homebuyer traffic and a three-month slide in the sales-to-list price ratio for non-distressed properties. But both of these trends were seen last fall and appear to be seasonal developments.

The Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey involves approximately 2,000 real estate agents nationwide each month and provides up-to-date intelligence on home sales and mortgage usage patterns.