India, May 22 -- Existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly saw further downside in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday.
NAR said existing home sales fell by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.00 million in April after plunging by 5.9 percent to a rate of 4.02 million in March. Economists had expected existing home sales to jump by 2.0 percent to a rate of 4.10 million.
"Home sales have been at 75% of normal or pre-pandemic activity for the past three years, even with seven million jobs added to the economy," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
"Pent-up housing demand continues to grow, though not realized," he added. "Any meaningful decline in mortgage rates will he...