Forex - US Existing Home Sales rise 2.0% in May. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

June 26, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Existing Home Sales rise 2.0% in May.

U.S. Existing Homes sales increased more than expected for the month of May according to the monthly report produced by the National Association of Realtors. The NAR report showed that existing-home sales including single family homes, co-ops and townhouses increased 2.0 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million units. Economic forecasts were predicting an increase of 1.2 percent for the month following a 1.0 percent decrease in April. May's existing-homes sales, despite the increase last month, are still 15.9 percent below May 2007's sales pace of 5.93 million units. The median sales price for existing homes in May was $208,600. This is down 6.3 percent from May 2007 which produced a median price of $222,700. Total housing inventory decreased in May by 1.4 percent to a total of 4.49 million homes.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented on May's increase in home sales, "The large supply of homes on the market clearly favors buyers, and it should take several months to draw the inventory down," and that "Stabilization in home prices can only occur with buyers returning to the market, so we are encouraged by rising home sales, particularly in distressed markets."

Tags: existing home sales, real estate, nar, us housing market

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