Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Fall to 4.55 Million Rate in Uneven Recovery
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes declined in May, showing an uneven recovery in residential real estate.
Purchases of existing properties dropped 1.5 percent to a 4.55 million annual rate last month, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 4.57 million pace.
The weakest employment gain in a year last month and limited access to credit are restraining a housing industry that’s been supported by record-low borrowing costs and cheaper properties that are drawing investors. The figures underscore Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s comments yesterday that the economy is failing to get a boost from a typical real- estate recovery.
“There’s a gradual bleeding into the market of distressed properties,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior U.S. economist at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “It’s a bumpy trajectory” for housing. “It’s going to be a gradual recovery.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-21/sales-of-existing-u-s-homes-fell-in-may-to-4-55-million-rate.html
