Investing.com – U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly fell in July, dampening optimism over the health of the housing market, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The industry data showed that home resales unexpectedly decreased by 1.3% in July to a seasonally adjusted 5.44 million units from 5.51 million units in the previous month. June’s data was revised down from an initial reading of 5.52 million units.
The consensus forecast was for a 0.9% increase June’s initial reading to 5.57 million units.
The data helps to gauge the strength of the U.S. housing market and is considered to be a key indicator of overall economic strength.
The report indicated that the drop was due to large declines in the Northeast and Midwest that outweighed sales increases in the South and West.
The data also showed that the median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $258,300, up 6.2% from July 2016 ($243,200), the 65th straight month of year-over-year gains.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun noted that the second half of the year got off on a “somewhat sour note”.
“Buyer interest in most of the country has held up strongly this summer and homes are selling fast, but the negative effect of not enough inventory to choose from and its pressure on overall affordability put the brakes on what should’ve been a higher sales pace,” he explained.
After the report, EUR/USD was unchanged at 1.1801, GBP/USD exchanged hands at 1.2813, compared to 1.2818 before the data, while USD/JPY traded at 109.19 compared to 109.22 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was unchanged at 93.15.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets traded slightly lower after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21 points, or 0.10%, the S&P 500 lost 5 points, or 0.19%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 14 points, or 0.23%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,294.41 a troy ounce, compared to $1,294.87 ahead of the data, while U.S. crude oil changed hands at $47.76, compared to $47.89 earlier.