Home Pending Sales Up Over 22 Percent
June 7, 2010
The pending home sales index reported by the National Association of Realtors showed a forward-looking indicator, which is based on contracts signed increased 6% for the month of April following a revised increase in March of 7.1%. On a year-over-year basis, showed pending sales are up 22.4%.
The monthly composite index of manufacturing activity was at 59.7 in May as reported by the Institute for Supply Management following 60.4 in April. Any reading above 50 is a sign of expansion. This was a 10th month of expansion in a row.
Total construction spending increased 2.7 percent in April to $869 billion after an increase in March of 0.4 percent. The gain in April was the highest seen since August of 2008.
Factors orders increased in April 1.2% which was below the economists expectation of 1.8%. On the good note, it was the 8th month in a row a gain was seen after a 1.7% in March.
The monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity was 55.4 in May as reported by the Institute for Supply Management as it was in April. Any reading above 50 is a sign of expansion. Economists believed a reading of 55.6 would occur, but with this reading, this was the 5th month in a row for growth.
The first quarter as reported by the Labor Department rose at an annual rate of 2.8% while labor costs fell at 1.3% annual rate.
Unemployment benefit initial claims fell a whopping 10,000 to end up at 453,000 for the week ending on May 29. Continuing claims for the week ending on May 22 rose to 4.66 million with 31,000 claims added. In May, 431,000 jobs were added by employers while in April that figure was 290,000. This in itself decreased the unemployment rate seen in April of 9.9% to May at 9.7%.
Reports are due on the wholesale trade on June 9 with international trade reports on June 10 and on June 11 retail sales.
2 Comments to Home Pending Sales Up Over 22 Percent
Comments
Very nice post you shared about pending home sales, i got a lot.
The job and real estate market are both improving. You can tell when construction starts up that the winds are finally changing. I have my fingers crossed that this trend will continue and even though there are nay sayers, I think things are going to get a lot better.
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