Despite rising interest rates, real estate sales in the neighborhood

I think that A is the best answer choice but not necessarily the perfect one. I guess that one could deem it as ambiguous?

But even with the ambiguity it is still a better answer choice than the rest.

B. 5 percent higher than last summer - comparison with summer instead of sales

C. 5 percent more than last summer was - 'more' used for uncountable nouns

D. higher than 5 percent last summer - same as B

E. more than 5 percent higher last summer - same as C

Hope this can help a bit.

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KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A)

Step 1: Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors

The underlined portion contains a comparison, “higher than,” which is idiomatically correct (X is higher than Y). In addition, the pronoun “they” makes the comparison parallel and logical: the author compares last summer’s sales to this summer’s sales. The sentence appears to have no error, so suspect (A) is correct. Check the other choices just to confirm you haven’t overlooked anything.

Step 2: Scan and Group the Answer Choices

(A), (B), and (C) start with “5 percent,” while (D) and (E) change that to “higher than 5 percent” and “more than 5 percent,” respectively.

Step 3: Eliminate Choices Until Only One Remains

The first thing being compared is sales from this summer. They should be compared to sales from another time period. (B) and (C) make the comparison between one season’s sales and another season rather than another season’s sales. Eliminate (B) and (C).

By moving the phrase “higher than,” (D) suggests that this summer’s total sales were over 5%—but 5% of what? Sales should be a figure, not a percentage. Further, this choice suggests that this summer’s sales somehow occurred last summer. Eliminate (D). Unlike (D), (E) correctly identifies the sales as 5% higher. However, (E) still suggests that this summer’s increase occurred last summer. Eliminate (E). There was never any error to fix, so the correct answer is (A).