Last Week in the News

Last Week in the News

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index fell two points in July to 14. Economists had anticipated a reading of 16. It was the lowest reading since April 2009. An index reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market.

According to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index, retail sales rose 1.4% for the week ending July 17. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 4.2%, the best showing in two months.

The combined construction of new single-family homes and apartments in June fell 5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 units. Applications for new building permits, seen as an indicator of future activity, rose 2.1% to an annual rate of 586,000 units.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending July 16 increased 7.6%. Refinancing applications rose 8.6%. Purchase volume rose 3.4%.

Existing home sales fell 5.1% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million units from 5.66 million units in May. The inventory of unsold homes on the market increased 2.5% to 3.99 million, an 8.9-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.3-month supply in May.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 37,000 to 464,000 for the week ending July 17. Continuing claims for the week ending July 10 fell by 223,000 to 4.567 million.

The index of leading economic indicators — designed to forecast economic activity in the next three to six months — fell 0.2% in June after a revised 0.5% gain in May.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on new home sales on July 26, the housing price index on July 27 and gross domestic product on July 30.