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U.S. existing home sales see surprise drop in March, gold price trades at new daily highs

Kitco Media
By Anna Golubova
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(Kitco News) Gold rose to fresh daily highs as U.S. existing home sales surprised with a drop in March, down 2.4%. Market consensus calls expected an increase of 5%.

Existing home sales declined to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 4.44 million units last month, compared to February’s annualized rate of 4.55 million homes, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday. Market consensus projections called for existing home sales to decline to 4.50 million.

On an annual basis, March’s existing sales were down 22%.

The housing market is reacting to changes in mortgage rates, said NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun.

"Home sales are trying to recover and are highly sensitive to changes in mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Yet, at the same time, multiple offers on starter homes are quite common, implying more supply is needed to fully satisfy demand. It's a unique housing market."

The median price for all home types was $375,700 last month, falling 0.9% from a year ago. The total inventory was at 980,000 units, up 5.4% from last year's total.

Gold prices edged up to daily highs after the release. June Comex gold futures last traded at $2,023.20, up 0.79% on the day.

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Anna Golubova

Anna Golubova is the Producer for Kitco News. With more than ten years of experience in media, she has covered a range of topics, focusing on economy and politics. Anna began to exclusively cover economic news in 2013, attending media lockups at the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada to report on a range of key macro economic events, including interest rate announcements, GDP, unemployment, and retail. She holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from NPSIA, Carleton and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from the University of Ottawa.

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