Existing home sales in April fell to a 5.99 million-unit annual pace, a 2.6% decrease from March's rate, the lowest level since June 2003, the National Association of Realtors said May 25. Economists had expected a slight rise in home resales. The inventory of homes for sale grew 10.4% to 4.2 million units, which represents an 8.4 months' supply at the current sales pace.

New home sales in April, however, rose to an annual pace of 981,000 units, up 16.2% from March's rate, the sharpest climb in 14 years. The median price of a new home sold in April fell 10.9% from a year earlier to $229,100, the sharpest year-over-year drop in median new home prices since December 1970. Taken together, the sales surge and price decline indicate that builders are taking extraordinary steps to sell inventories of new homes.

For the week ended May 24, rates on 30-year, fixed-rate loans increased on upbeat consumer confidence and speculation that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates anytime soon.

Meanwhile, orders for durable goods -- big-ticket items expected to last three or more years -- increased 0.6% in April, slightly ahead of March's 0.5% pace, the Commerce Department said May 24. The increase fell short of Wall Street's expectation for a 0.9% rise.

Jobless claims rose 15,000 to 311,000 for the week ended May 19, in line with analysts' forecasts, the Labor Department said May 24.

This week look for updates on consumer confidence on May 29 and the unemployment rate on June 1.