Existing Home Sales surged

June 20, 2013

The Federal Reserve released its monetary policy statement yesterday with little change to the previous statement, but the fireworks began at Fed Chairman Bernanke’s press conference following the release. Mr. Bernanke said that if the Fed’s economic forecasts play out, the Fed would begin to taper its purchases of Bonds each month by the end of this year. The Fed has been purchasing $85 billion in Treasury and Mortgage Backed Securities per month in an effort to spur on growth in the economy, keep interest rates low and to promote job growth.

Over in the housing markets, Existing Home Sales surged by 5.18 million units annualized in May, well above the 5 million expected and was the highest rate since November of 2009. Within the report it showed that the median existing-home price was $208,000 in May, up 15.4% from May of 2012. Existing Home sales have increased 13% from May of 2012. The inventory of Existing Homes is at a 5.1 month supply.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area picked up in June to its highest level since April 2011 rising by 12.5, well above the -0.2 expected and considerably higher than the -5.2 registered in May. Numbers above zero signals that more companies are expanding than contracting business. Within the report it showed that the employment component rose modestly.