U.S. existing home sales drop more than expected in April, gold price down $20

NEW YORK (May 18) Gold was down $20 on the day as U.S. existing home sales fell more than expected in April, down 3.4%.

Existing home sales declined to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 4.28 million units last month, compared to March’s annualized rate of 4.43 million homes, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday. Market consensus projections were calling for existing home sales to decline to 4.30 million.

On an annual basis, April’s existing sales were down 23.2%.

"Home sales are bouncing back and forth but remain above recent cyclical lows," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The combination of job gains, limited inventory and fluctuating mortgage rates over the last several months have created an environment of push-pull housing demand."

The median price for all home types was $388,800 last month, falling 1.7% from a year ago. This was the biggest annual price drop since January 2012, according to NAR. The total inventory was at 1.04 million units, up 7.2% from last year’s total.

Gold continued to trade at daily lows after the data was released. June Comex gold futures were last at $1,962.90, down 1.1% on the day.

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