Existing home sales hit a 6-month low

In another sign that the housing market (and broader economy) are weakening, existing home sales hit the lowest level since November:

Whoa. Sales of previously occupied homes in the U.S. fell in May to the lowest level in six months, the National Association of Realtors reports. That’s not good news, given we’re all waiting for the long-awaited recovery to finally arrive.

Sales of existing homes fell 3.8% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million. As we report, it was the weakest showing since November. To be sure, unusually weak weather hurt sales. But housing’s pain will persist until the employment market and housing prices stabilize.

For now, prices continue falling: The median sales price was $166,500, down 4.6% from $174,600 a year earlier. The inventory of homes listed for sale, meanwhile, slipped slightly at the end of May to 3.72 million, representing a 9.3-month supply. A healthy market has a roughly six-month supply.

Sorry about the lack of blogging over the past week. I've been busy building a new feature for my website. I expect it will be ready to go live by July 1st and I will announce it here on my blog.