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

Kitco Media
By Anna Golubova
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(Kitco News) 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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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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