Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in June, dampening optimism over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 1.0%. Pending home sales in May rose by 0.6%, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported gain of 0.9%.
Modest gains in the Northeast and West were offset by larger declines in the Midwest and South.
Despite June's decline, pending home sales remained near the highest level in over nine years.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at annualized rate of 11.1% in June, below forecasts for an increase of 12.0% and following a gain of 7.9% in May.
The index is the third highest reading of 2015 and has now increased year-over-year for ten consecutive months.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says although pending sales decreased in June, the overall trend in recent months supports a solid pace of home sales this summer.
"Competition for existing houses on the market remained stiff last month, as low inventories in many markets reduced choices and pushed prices above some buyers' comfort level," he said.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1037 from around 1.1033 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.5676 from 1.5675 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 123.65 from 123.68 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.84, compared to 95.86 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were mostly higher after the open. The Dow 30 tacked on 0.15%, the S&P 500 inched up 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite was flat.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,090.20 a troy ounce, compared to $1,091.40 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $47.66 a barrel from $47.63 earlier.