US Existing Home Sales increase third month in a row. Jobless Claims rise. USD mixed in Forex Trading.

U.S. Existing Homes sales increased for the third month in a row in June according to the monthly report produced by the National Association of Realtors. The NAR report showed that existing-home sales including single family homes, co-ops and townhouses increased 3.6 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units. The June data put existing home sales at three straight monthly gains for the first time since 2004. May’s sales data was revised lower to show a 1.3 percent increase after an initial report of a 2.4 percent increase.

The June sales pace surpassed economic forecasts that were predicting an approximate increase of 1.5 percent to a 4.84 million unit sales pace for the month. On an annual basis, June’s existing-homes sales are 0.2 percent lower than the June 2008 sales pace of 4.90 million units. The median sales price for existing homes increased from May to $181,800 in June while the total housing inventory showed a decrease of 0.7 percent in the month to a total of 3.82 million homes available.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented on June’s increase saying, “The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” and that, “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions.”