Gold and silver traded down Wednesday morning after a report showing that new U.S. home sales took a nosedive last month, another piece of evidence pointing to inflation’s relentless grip on the housing industry. 

The figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development showed sales of new single-family houses last month at 619,000 – 11.3% below April’s revised rate of 698,000 and 16.5% below the May 2023 estimate of 741,000. The total fell short of Wall Street projections of around 636,000.

Gold and silver dipped in Wednesday morning trading. Gold was down $23.14 at $2,297 per ounce, and silver was down $0.13 at $28.74. 

While other key market sectors have seen recovery, housing sales and homebuilding continue to show signs of sticky inflation. 

Last week, dual reports showed that building permits in May came in at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1,386,000 – 3.8% below April’s revised rate of 1.44 million and 9.5% below the May 2023 rate of 1.53 million. May’s housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,277,000 – 5.5% below the revised April estimate of 1.35 million and 19.3% below the May 2023 rate of 1.58 million.

Wednesday’s report showed that the median sales price of new houses sold last month was $417,400. The average sales price was $520,000.

Additionally, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of May was 481,000 – representing a supply of 9.3 months at the current sales rate.