Charleston SC Real Estate Blog

New home sales unexpectedly rose 3.3% in April, the first increase in six months, the Commerce Department said May 27. As a result, the inventory of unsold new homes fell slightly to a 10.6 months’ supply versus the 11.1 months’ backlog recorded in March.
The Commerce Department further reported that the median price of a new home sold in April rose to $246,100, up 1.5% from April 2007. In a separate report, however, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index showed existing home prices falling 14.1% in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year decline since the index began in 1988.
For the week ending May 29, interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to an 11-week high, Freddie Mac said.
More mixed economic news came from the industrial sector. Orders to U.S. factories for durable goods — those expected to last three or more years — dropped 0.5%, dragged down by big declines in demand for commercial aircraft and autos. However, excluding transportation, orders rose 2.5% in April, the biggest gain in nine months. Orders for electrical equipment and appliances surged 27.8%, the biggest increase on record.
Another boost for the economy came on May 29 when the Commerce Department upwardly revised first-quarter gross domestic product or GDP — the total tally of the nation’s goods and services — from its previous estimate of 0.6% to an annual rate of 0.9%.
Finally, despite the government’s sending out billions of dollars in stimulus checks, consumer spending nudged up a small 0.2% in April, half of March’s increase, the Commerce Department said May 30. Personal income also edged up 0.2% in April, again half of March’s 0.4% increase.
This week, watch for the May unemployment report due out on June 6.
Economic data compiled from government reports and news services Bloomberg.com, msnbc.com, cnbc.com, cnn.money.com and Yahoo Economic Calendar.

  Click here to visit my website and apply online:
 www.kbeltran.imbhomelending.com

Consumer confidence fell to a 25-year low, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, dropping from 69.5 in March to 62.6 in April. The reading is troubling because it’s regarded as an indicator of future consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity.
Sales of existing homes dropped 2% in March to an annual rate of 4.93 million units, the National Association of REALTORS® reported April 22. The median price of an existing home tumbled 7.7% from a year ago to $200,700, the second biggest decline since a record 8.4% drop in February.
Sales of new homes plunged 8.5% in March to an annual rate of 526,000 units, the slowest sales pace since October 1991, the Commerce Department said April 24. The median price of a new home dropped 13.3% from a year ago to $227,600, the biggest year-over-year price decline since a 14.6% plunge 38 years ago. At the current sales pace, it would take 11 months to deplete the national inventory of new homes.
Homebuyers didn’t get much mortgage rate relief as 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate loans edged up for the week ending April 24, Freddie Mac said in its weekly survey of mortgage lenders.
The demand for durable goods — big-ticket items expected to last three or more years — dipped 0.3% in March, a worse-than-expected showing, the Commerce Department said April 24. The last time orders fell for three consecutive months was from February to April of 2001, when the nation was sliding into the last recession.
The job front was a bit rosier, however, as new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 33,000 last week to 342,000, the Labor Department reported April 24. Economists had expected a rise of 3,000.
Economic news due this week includes another consumer confidence report on April 29 and a preliminary report on the nation’s first-quarter gross domestic product on April 30.
Economic data compiled from government reports and news services Bloomberg.com, msnbc.com, cnbc.com, cnn.money.com and Yahoo Economic Calendar.

Sales of existing homes unexpectedly rose 2.9% in February, the first increase in seven months, the National Association of REALTORS® said March 24. “The improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. The median existing-home sales price in February was $195,900, down 8.2% from a year earlier.
February sales of new single-family homes fell 1.8% to a 13-year low, the Commerce Department said March 26. The decline was slightly worse than expected. The median new-home sales price in February was $244,100, down 2.7% from the level of a year ago.
Orders for durable goods — items expected to last three or more years — fell 1.7% in February, worse than the 1% increase economists had predicted, the Commerce Department reported March 26. Demand for manufacturing equipment plunged 13.3%, the largest amount on record.
On March 27, the Commerce Department confirmed data showing that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States, crawled home at a 0.6% annual rate for the 2007 October-to-December quarter. In the prior quarter, GDP sizzled at 4.9%.
Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy, edged up just 0.1% in February, the weakest spending performance in 17 months, the Commerce Department said March 28. The modest gain was in line with forecasts.
For the week ending March 27, interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages nudged downward, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey®.
For the week ending March 21, mortgage applications shot up 48.1%, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. Refinances surged 82.2% while purchase business improved 10.6%.
Economic news due out this week includes the highly anticipated unemployment report on April 4.