ECONOMIC REPORT: Existing-home Sales Fall To 5-year Low In June, Prices Inch Up

By Rex Nutting

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Sales of U.S. existing homes dropped 3.8% in June to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 5.75 million units, the lowest sales pace in nearly five years, even as frustrated sellers pulled their homes off the market by the thousands.
Sales of single-family homes plunged at a 30% annual rate in the second quarter, the steepest decline in 28 years, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales of single-family homes were down 12% in June compared with a year earlier.
Even with a significant 4.2% drop in the number of homes for sale, the supply remained at a 15-year high at 8.8 months' worth of sales.
"The numbers were not terribly surprising, but they were somewhat disturbing, " said Mike Schenk, senior economist for the Credit Union National Association. "The slump in housing will be longer and deeper than advertised."
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been expecting sales in June to fall to a 5.90 million annualized pace. Read more this articles or visit http://www.nasdaq.com