Home resales stay sluggish on affordability constraints

US previously owned home sales rose slightly in May to a still-sluggish pace that continues to show a housing market constrained by poor affordability.

Contract closings increased 0.8% to an annualized rate of 4.03 million last month, just the second advance this year, according to data released Monday by the National Association of Realtors. That compared with the 3.95 million median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

READ MORE: High home prices hide broader slowdown as demand drops

It was the weakest May sales pace since 2009. The resale market, which historically makes up about 90% of total home sales, looks set to languish for the foreseeable future without some letup in financing costs or downturn in prices. Compared with a year ago, existing-home sales were down 4% on an…