Daily News 6/29/2015
June 29, 2015
Monday – June 29
The National Association of REALTORS® reported on Monday that singed contracts to purchase exiting homes slid in May as home loan rates edged higher. Pending Home Sales rose 0.9% in May from April, below the 1.4% expected, and down from the 2.7% registered in April, which was revised lower from the original reading of 3.4%. The big gains were seen in the Northeast climbing 6.3% month-over-month and are up nearly 8% from a year ago. The Pending Home Sales Index is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops.
Home prices were up modestly in April from March, while year-over-year also experienced gains. Black Knight’s Home Price Index report for April showed a modest 1% increase from March, while year-over-year prices were up nearly 5%. In addition, home prices are up 3% from the beginning of the year and are up just under 24% since the market hit bottom in the beginning of 2012. At $248,000, the national Home Price Index is now just 7.6% off its June 2006 peak of $268,000.
Global Stock markets plunged overnight and the carnage has pushed into the Stock markets here in the U.S. after a failure by creditors to reach a bailout deal in Greece. The fear now is that Greece may become the first country to exit the euro zone. After a big run on the banks over the weekend, Greek officials have closed the banks as well as the Stock market in Greece for at least a week. Bank customers will be limited to ATM withdrawals of only 60 euros per day. Here in the U.S., the popular Dow Jones Industrial Average is down over 200 points as of this writing.
