US: Existing Home Sales drop by 3.4% in April vs. 0.1% expected

• Existing Home Sales in the US fell unexpectedly sharply in April.
• US Dollar Index holds near daily highs after the data.

Existing Home Sales in the US dropped by 3.4% in April to an adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Thursday. This reading followed March's contraction of 2.6% (revised from -2.4%) and came in below the market expectation of 0.1%. Salles are down 23% from one year ago. 

“The median existing-home sales price slipped 1.7% from one year ago to $388,800. The inventory of unsold existing homes increased 7.2% from the previous month to 1.04 million at the end of April, or the equivalent of 2.9 months' supply at the current monthly sales pace,” the NAR further noted.

"Home sales are bouncing back and forth but remain above recent cyclical lows," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The combination of job gains, limited inventory and fluctuating mortgage rates over the last several months have created an environment of push-pull housing demand."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index is up by 0.55% on Thursday, supported by comments from Federal Reserve’s Logan. The Dollar trades at monthly highs versus the Euro and the Yen. Other economic reports released earlier showed numbers above expectations (Jobless Claims and Philly Fed).