(Reuters) -D.R. Horton ( DHI ) beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday, as historically low U.S. housing supply lifted sales of new homes even as mortgage rates remained elevated.

The popular 30-year, fixed-mortgage rate has hovered at nearly 7% for months, discouraging U.S. homeowners with fixed rates below 5% to resell their homes.

This "rate lock-in" has constrained supply of existing homes and forced buyers to turn to new construction.

Homes closed in the third quarter increased to 24,155 units compared to 22,985 in the year-ago quarter.

The company also approved a new share buyback authorization totaling $4 billion.

The Arlington, Texas-based homebuilder reported earnings of $4.10 per share, higher than analysts' average estimate of $3.75, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)