Gold prices slip lower following U.S. existing home sales numbers

New York (Nov 21)  Gold prices remain under pressure trading near its daily lows even as fewer consumers bought existing homes than expect in October, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Existing home sales increased 1.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 5.46 million units, compared to September’s annualized rate of 5.38 million homes, the association said on Thursday. However, economists were expecting to see a sales rate of 5.49 million homes. This is the second month that home sales have missed expectations.

Annually, the report said that sales are up 4.6%.

The gold market was already seeing some selling pressure ahead of the report. December gold futures last traded at $1,465.40 an ounce, down 0.60% on the day.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said this sales increase is encouraging and he expects added growth in the coming months.

“Historically-low interest rates, continuing job expansion, higher weekly earnings and low mortgage rates are undoubtedly contributing to these higher numbers,” he said. “We will likely continue to see sales climb as long as potential buyers are presented with an adequate supply of inventory.”

Looking at prices, the report said that the median existing-home price2 for all housing types in October was $270,900, up 6.2% from October 2018.

Meanwhile, total housing inventory at the end of October sat at 1.77 million units, representing a 3.9-month supply at the current sales pace.

KitcoNews