Sales of previously occupied US homes fell 15% in May from the previous year, an indication the economic recovery remains halting, analysts said.
Also, the median price for existing homes fell 4.6% in May from May 2010.
The National Association of Realtors put the decline down to rising petrol prices and bad weather in April that kept home shoppers away from sales.
Chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement that “overly restrictive” lending also hampered sales growth.
“There’s been a pendulum swing from very loose standards which led to the housing boom to unnecessarily restrictive practices as an over-reaction to the housing correction,” Mr Yun said. “This over-reaction is clearly holding back the recovery.”
A seasonally adjusted 4.81 million existing homes were sold in May, down 3.8% from five million in April, and 15.3% from 5.68 million in May 2010, the National Association of Realtors said.
But the group warned that May 2010 sales were inflated because of the pending expiration of a tax credit for home buyers.
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US home re-sales down 15% in May