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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller March 24, 2005
Sales of new single-family homes recovered 9.4% in February to 1.226M after the little revised 8.6% January decline. Consensus estimates had been for sales of 1.150M.
The rise in sales last month was led by a 9.9% recovery in the Midwest (-6.8% y/y) after the one-third drop in January. In the Northeast sales surged 20.3% (-3.5% y/y) and in the South sales jumped 9.0% (+15.5% y/y). In the West sales gained 7.4% (-1.7% y/y).
The median price of a new single family home jumped 9.6% to $230,700 (+5.1% y/y).
The figures from the Census Department reflect homes sold.
| Homes Sales (000s, AR) | Feb | Jan | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Single-Family | 1,226 | 1,121 | 5.2% | 1,198 | 1,089 | 976 |
