US Existing-Home Sales Fall a Third Month as Prices Set a Record
- Contract closings dropped 0.7% in May, driven by the South
- Median price climbed to $419,300 even with more inventory
A home for sale in Seattle, Washington.
Photographer: David Ryder/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Sales of existing homes in the US fell for a third straight month in May while prices set another record, underscoring persistent affordability challenges that hobbled the important spring selling season.
Contract closings decreased 0.7% from a month earlier to a 4.11 million annualized rate, driven entirely by a decline in the South, according to National Association of Realtors data released Friday. The figure was in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.