The National Association of Realtors just released the data for the existing home sales nationwide.

I have a bias towards the "Existing" figures as opposed to the "New" home sales which were reported yesterday.

The Existing numbers are based on facts. Sales that have closed. They also account for 85% of all sales.

The New sales figures are based on contracts that have been signed. It's a fuzzy number as an estimated 40% of those contracts do not go to fruition. Read more about the difference here: LINK

Here's a quick view of the numbers:

• Overall Existing Home Sales for April were down 2.6%
• This represents a year over year decline of 10.7%!
• Median Price for a home sold was $220,900 which is down marginally
• But that decline in value is also the 9th straight on a row!
• Inventory is up 10.4% (the number of homes for sale)
• Inventory sits at an 8.4 month supply (the highest since 8/92)
• The Northeast absorbed the biggest hit (8.8)
• The West declined only 1.7%

Overall the report was negative and lower than what the experts were predicting.

While this is not always true, the general rule to remember is that:

• Weaker than expected economic data lowers rates,
  
• contrast this to better than expected generally causes rates to rise.