US: Pending home sales declined 0.5% in May - Nomura

US pending home sales declined 0.5% m-o-m in May, below the consensus expectation of a 0.5% increase, points out the research team at Nomura.

Key Quotes

“The decline was driven by a sharp 3.5% drop in pending sales in the South, more than offsetting modest increases in other regions. As scarce inventory of existing homes for sale continues to put downward pressure on pending sales, the near term outlook for existing home sales appears murky. On a 12- month basis, pending home sales were down 2.8% in May.”