MNI BRIEF: US May Home Resale Prices Plunge Most In Decade

U.S. existing home sales edged 0.2% higher in May to a 4.3 million seasonally adjusted annual rate but prices recorded their largest drop in more than a decade, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Existing home sales have largely moved sideways in the past few months on "relatively stable" mortgage rates but transaction volume is significantly lower than last year, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters on a call. May sales were down 20.4% from a year ago.

The national median home price fell 3.1% from a year ago to USD396,100, the biggest drop since December 2011. Still, about a third of homes are being sold above list price and days on market remain low at 18 days, Yun said. A historic lack of inventory is "hampering some of the buying potential" and allowing new home sales to take a bigger market share, Yun said, noting existing home inventory levels were nearly twice as high pre-pandemic.