02:20 PM EDT, 06/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Home resales decreased to a 4.11 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in May from an unrevised 4.14 million rate in April, and down 2.8% from May 2023.

The May decline from April was entirely due to the South region, as sales in the Northeast, West and Midwest regions were unchanged. Sales were down in three of the four regions compared with a year earlier.

"Eventually, more inventory will help boost home sales and tame home price gains in the upcoming months," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Increased housing supply spells good news for consumers who want to see more properties before making purchasing decisions."

Homes were on the market for 24 days on average, down from 26 days in the previous month, but up from 18 days a year ago.

The supply of homes for sale rose to a 1.28 million level from 1.20 million level in April and was up 18.5% from a year ago. The median sales price rose by 5.8% from a year ago to a record high of $419,300.

The flash manufacturing reading from S&P Global rose to 51.7 in June from 51.3 in May after regional data from the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve banks were mixed.

Released at the same time, the flash services reading from S&P Global rose to 55.1 in June from 54.8 in May, a 26-month high that suggests solid expansion.

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index fell by 0.5% in May after a 0.6% drop in April. The Conference Board said that economic growth is expected to slow in H2, but the data do not signal a recession.

Natural gas stocks rose by 71 billion cubic feet to 3.045 trillion cubic feet in the week ended June 14, up 12.7% from a year earlier and 22.6% higher than the seasonal average for the current week over the previous five years.

The St. Louis Fed's GDP nowcast estimate for Q2 is for a 0.80% gain, down from 0.94% in the previous estimate.