New Home Sales surged

July 24, 2013

Despite the recent rise in home loan rates, New Home Sales surged by 8.3% in June from May to an annual rate of 497,000 units. The 497,000 was above expectations of 483,000 and sales are now up 38% since June of 2012, the largest annual increase since 1992. However, sales in May were revised lower to a 459,000 annual rate from the initial number of 476,000.

Within the New Home Sales report it showed that inventories are at 3.9 months, down from 4.2 months in May. A normal supply is around six months, which is considered a more healthy balance between supply and demand. The median price now stands at $249,700, up 7.4% from the $232,600 recorded in June of 2012.

Ford Motor reported earnings today that were well above estimates driven by record profits in North America. The automakers market share has now increased to 16.5% across the nation. Ford’s net income in the second quarter was $1.2 billion, up from $1 billion in the previous quarter. However, Ford does expect weakness in South America and the European markets.