Limited supplies of housing inventory held back existing-home sales in May, but sales maintained a strong lead over year-ago levels and home prices are on a sustained uptrend in all regions, according the National Association of REALTORS (NAR).
Existing-home sales, which include single-family townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.55 million in May from 4.62 million in April. May closing were 9.6 percent above the 4.15 million-unit pace in May 2011.
In the Northeast, existing-home sales fell 4.8 percent to an annual level of 590,000 in May, which is 7.3 higher than a year ago.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the slight pullback in monthly home sales is more likely due to supply constraints rather than softening demand.