'Temporary factors' push US house sales down

A decline in existing home sales in the US in May has been attributed to "temporary factors and financing problems" by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Figures published by the organisation showed that residential property transactions fell by 3.8 per cent last month in comparison to April, while registering a 15.3 per cent drop on May 2010.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun explained that a combination of factors - including high gasoline prices and widespread severe weather - conspired to keep house sales down.

However, he predicted that the US residential property market will begin to show signs of recovery by the end of 2011.

"The pace of sales activity for the second half of the year is expected to be stronger than the first half, and will be much stronger than the second half of last year," Mr Yun asserted.

Data published earlier this month by Freddie Mac paints a more positive picture of the housing sector during the first four months of 2011, with the organisation revealing that between January and April, existing homes sales had risen by around five per cent compared to the average figures during the same period in 2010.
 

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