U.S. home resales suffered more of a loss than economists expecting in April, weighed down by a "stubborn" shortage of houses on the market that's keeping prices high and sidelining prospective buyers.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday that existing home sales declined 2.3% , to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units, last month.
Economists had forecast existing home sales in April to fall by 1.1%, after home sales surged in March to their highest pace in over 10 years, as severe supply shortages resulted in the typical home selling markedly faster in March than in February, as NAR reported last month.
Existing home sales rose 4.4% for the month of March and prior to that fell 3.7% during February.
Despite April's 2.3% decline, last month's sales pace marks the fourth highest over the past 12 months. March's sales pace has been revised down to 5.7 million units, which remains the highest level since February 2007.
