The price of gold is falling as existing home sales in the United States exceed expectations in July

(Kitco News) Gold fell after surpassing daily highs above $ 1,800 an ounce as existing home sales in the United States rose 2% in July, surpassing market expectations.

Existing home sales rose to a seasoned, annualized rate of 5.99 million units last month, compared to the June annualized rate of 5.87 million homes, the National Association said Monday of Realtors (NAR). Market consensus projections called for existing home sales to increase to 5.83 million.

Annually, existing July sales increased 1.5%.

The housing situation in the United States is still about inventories, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR.

“We see inventory starting to increase, which will decrease the intensity of multiple bids,” Yun said. “Much of the growth in home sales continues to occur in high-end markets, while mid-low level areas are not experiencing as much growth because there are still too few homes available.”

Gold prices fell after the release of data. December Comex gold futures traded for the last time at $ 1,804.10, up 1.13% on the day.

The average price for all types of homes was $ 359,900 in July, up 17.8% from last year. This was the 113th consecutive year of year-on-year earnings.

The total inventory was 1.32 million units, 12% less than last year’s total.

“While we shouldn’t expect house prices to drop in the coming months, there is a possibility that they will decline as inventory continues to improve progressively,” Yun added. “Meanwhile, some potential buyers with reduced prices are increasing the demand for rental homes and therefore increasing rental rates.”