Second-hand home sales in the United States are still sluggish, constrained by insufficient affordability.

Existing home sales in the United States increased slightly in May, but the growth rate remains slow, indicating that the housing market continues to be constrained by affordability. Data released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday showed that existing home sales rose by 0.8% month-on-month to an annual rate of 4.03 million units, marking the second increase this year. Economists surveyed had a median forecast of 3.95 million units. This still marks the weakest pace of sales for the same period since 2009. Existing home sales historically account for about 90% of total home sales, and if financing costs and home prices remain high, the market may struggle to recover in the short term. Unadjusted existing home sales decreased by 4% year-on-year. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, stated in a release, "The relative lethargy of sales is primarily because mortgage rates have been persistently high."