US home prices fall by largest amount annually since December 2011

U.S. home prices fell in May at the largest annual rate in more than a decade, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Thursday.

The median existing home price was $396,100 last month, down 3.1% from a year ago, marking the largest year-over-year price reduction since December 2011.

Sales of existing homes — which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — rose 0.2% from April to May.

Annually, sales were down 20.4% from a year ago, and the seasonally adjusted annualized sales pace dropped from 5.4 million units a year ago to 4.3 million in May.