(Reuters) - Lennar Corp posted a higher third-quarter profit on Thursday, compared with a year earlier, as a historically low housing supply kept demand strong, with declining fixed mortgage rates luring in more skittish buyers to the market.

The second-largest U.S. homebuilder by sales posted earnings of $1.16 billion, or $4.26 per share, for the quarter, compared with $1.1 billion, or $3.87 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal and Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)