By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US existing home sales increased 0.2% in May, compared to the month before, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday.
Existing home sales, which measures the change in the number of existing residential buildings sold, rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3 million last month.
While the market expectation for the figure was to come in at 4.25 million, it stood at 4.29 million in April.
On an annual basis, however, sales were down 20.4% from 5.40 million in May 2022.
"Mortgage rates heavily influence the direction of home sales. Available inventory strongly impacts home sales, too," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.
"Newly constructed homes are selling at a pace reminiscent of pre-pandemic times because of abundant inventory in that sector. However, existing-home sales activity is down sizably due to the current supply being roughly half the level of 2019," he added.
The median existing-home sales price was $396,100 -- a decline of 3.1% from May 2022 when it stood at $408,600.