Sales of previously owned homes was up in May compared to a year ago, but were down from April, according to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report released on Thursday.
Sales of existing, or previously owned, homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.55 million units in May, the report noted.
NAR said sales of previously owned homes fell by 1.5 percent compared with the prior month. The dip in activity was concentrated in the Northeast and Western regions of the country.
Sales of newly built homes, delivered in a separate report each month from the US Census Bureau, are scheduled to be released Monday.
"The slight pullback in monthly home sales is more likely due to supply constraints rather than softening demand," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, in a statement.
"The normal seasonal upturn in inventory did not occur this spring."
At the current sales pace, total housing inventory fell to just under 2.5 million homes. That is more than 20 percent below levels last year and down from a record high 4 million unsold properties recorded in July 2007.
