Investing.com - Pending home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly declined in May for a third straight month, dampening optimism over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its pending home sales index decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% last month, compared to expectations for a gain of 0.8%.
The reading on the index itself decreased to 108.5 in May from the prior 10948 (revised from an initial reading of 109.8).
"The ongoing supply shortages that are propping up home prices in many metro areas caused pending home sales in May to slump for the third consecutive month, according to the report.
NAR also indicated that the index is now 1.7% below a year ago, which marks the second straight annual decline and the most recent since November and December of last year.
“Buyer interest is solid, but there is just not enough supply to satisfy demand,” NAR chief economist Larry Yun said.
“Prospective buyers are being sidelined by both limited choices and home prices that are climbing too fast,” he added.
Following the report, EUR/USD was trading at 1.1380 from around 1.1363 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.2949 compared to 1.2932 previously, while USD/JPY was at 112.25 from 112.10 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 95.77, compared to 95.84 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets traded slightly higher after the open. The Dow 30 rose 128 points, or 0.60%, the S&P 500 gained 14 points, or 0.58%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded up 22 points or 0.37%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,250.22 a troy ounce, compared to $1,251.16 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $44.28 a barrel from $44.22 earlier.