(Kitco News) - The gold market is resting at resistance at $5,200 an ounce and paying little attention to the U.S. housing market, as it shows preliminary signs of stabilizing, with consumers buying more existing homes than expected last month.
Total existing-home sales—including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops—increased 1.7% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, up from December’s revised sales rate of 4.02 million, the NAR announced Tuesday. The sales rate rose more than expected; according to consensus estimates, economists expected 3.89 million. However, existing-home sales are down 1.4% from last year, the report said.
“Housing affordability is improving, and consumers are responding,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “Still, there is a long way to go to return to pre-pandemic levels of transaction activity. There are more than 6 million more jobs than in 2019, yet home sales per year are down by one million.”
“Despite the modest gain in home sales, actual housing demand remains muted relative to wage growth and job gains,” Yun added. “Wage growth is now outpacing home price growth by almost four percentage points. Mortgage rates are also measurably lower compared to a year ago.”
The gold market is not paying much attention to the latest economic data as it benefits from renewed technical bullish momentum. Spot gold last traded at $5,193 an ounce, up 1% on the day.
The U.S. housing market has struggled for a few years as the Federal Reserve has maintained relatively elevated interest rates. However, sentiment in the sector is slowly improving after the central bank cut rates three times during the second half of 2025 and is expected to ease rates again this year, starting in June.
The report noted that a steady increase in the supply of new homes is also helping affordability within the housing sector. Although home prices continue to increase, the rate of change appears to be slowing.
As of the end of February, there were 1.29 million units for sale, up 2.4% from January and up 4.9% from last year. At the current sales rate, the inventory represents a 3.8-month supply.
Looking at home prices, the report said the median existing-home price for all housing types was $398,000, up 0.3% from last year.
