Following April's declines across the home sales data (as well as a dip in homebuilder optimism), existing home sales in May surprised positively (up 1.1% versus -0.4% exp) and follows a small upward revision to April's drop.

First-time buyers accounted for 33 percent of all sales in May, down from 34 percent in the prior month.

Inventory of available properties fell 8.4% from May 2016 to 1.96m, the 24th straight year-over-year decline.

Growth in home sales year-over-year has slowed...

The median existing-home price for all housing types in May was $252,800. This surpasses last June ($247,600) as the new peak median sales price is up 5.8 percent from May 2016 ($238,900) and marks the 63rd straight month of year-over-year gains.

Of course, homebuilders remain blissfully ignorant of the actual state of the housing 'recovery' - with the biggest gap between hope and home sales ever...

And as the real estate market's data collapses, optimism remains...

“It is a very fast-moving market, meaning that homes placed on the market are being picked up very fast by buyers,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said at a press briefing in Washington. “We have job creation, yet home creation is not breaking out. There’s sizable pent-up demand.”