Existing home sales fell 2.2% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million units from a revised 5.79 million units in April. The inventory of unsold homes on the market decreased 3.4% to 3.89 million, an 8.3-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 8.4-month supply in April.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending June 18 decreased 5.9%. Refinancing applications fell 7.3%. Purchase volume fell 1.2%.
New home sales fell 32.7% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000 units from a downwardly revised rate of 446,000 units in April. It was the slowest sales pace since recordkeeping began in 1963. New home sales have fallen 78% from their peak in July 2005.
Orders for durable goods — items expected to last three or more years — fell 1.1% in May after increasing a revised 3% in April. The drop was largely due to a decrease in demand for commercial aircraft. Excluding volatile transportation-related goods, orders posted a monthly increase of 0.9%.
In its third and final report, the Commerce Department announced that gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at an annual rate of 2.7% in the first quarter of 2010, rather than the 3.2% increase initially reported.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 to 457,000 for the week ending June 19. Continuing claims for the week ending June 12 fell by 45,000 to 4.54 million.
Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on the housing price index on June 29, pending home sales on July 1 and factory orders on July 2.
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