Sales of previously owned U.S. homes dropped unexpectedly in April for a third straight month as an inventory crunch pushed up prices by the most on record and restrained purchases.
Contract closings decreased 2.7% from the prior month to an annualized 5.85 million, the slowest pace since June, according to Friday data from the National Association of Realtors. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 6.07 million rate in April.
