Oct 30 (Reuters) - Invitation Homes posted higher third-quarter revenue on Wednesday, as volatile mortgage rates pushed more consumers to rent instead of buying.

The real estate investment trust, which has about 85,000 homes for lease in 16 markets across the U.S., reported nearly 7% rise in quarterly revenue of $660.3 million.

Analysts estimated $652.7 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

With the popular 30-year fixed mortgage rate currently hovering around 6.5%, many customers prefer to rent affordable single-family homes rather than taking out an expensive loan.

Moreover, overall demand for affordable housing options remains strong, as the U.S. faces a chronic shortage of single-family homes dating back to the 2008 housing market crash.

The Dallas, Texas-based REIT reported 1.7% growth in same-store new lease rent growth — the rental hike offered to new tenants.

Renewal rates grew 4.2% and the company achieved a blended rental growth rate of 3.6%, which reflects a combination of new lease and renewal rates.

Third-quarter funds from operations (FFO), a key measure of performance for REITs, increased 6.8% from a year ago to 47 cents per share.

The REIT also lifted the lower end of its full-year adjusted FFO forecast to a range of $1.57 to $1.61 per share, compared with earlier forecast ranging from $1.55 to $1.61 apiece.

The new forecast's mid-point of $1.59 per share, however, comes lower than the analysts' estimate of $1.88 per share.

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona) ((mailto: Ananta.agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))