Daily News 9/22/14
September 22, 2014
Monday – September 22
Sales of previously owned homes declined from July to August to the first monthly decline in five months, due in part to a decrease in all cash Sales. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported August Existing Home Sales fell by nearly 2% from July to an annual rate of 5.05 million units. Sales increases in the Northeast and Midwest were offset by declines in the South and West. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist said, “As long as solid job growth continues, wages should eventually pick up steadily to improve purchasing power and help release pent-up demand for buying.”
Popular tech giant and consumer products maker, Apple, said that sales for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were through the roof this past weekend, which set a new internal record at Apple. Sales were 10 million alone this past weekend, which shattered the previous record of 9 million for the 5s and 5c. The 10 million in sales doesn’t include one of the world’s largest smart phone markets, China. Apple is waiting for government approval from China to begin selling the new smart phones in that country.
Gas prices at the pump continue to fall this week as the summer driving season officially ended today with the first day of fall. The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline is at $3.33, down from $3.43 last month. Pushing prices lower is cheaper prices for oil along with the transition to winter-blend gasoline, which is cheaper to produce. Motorist club AAA expects the national average to fall another 10-20 cents by the end of October. In parts of the country, a regular gallon of gasoline has fallen below $3.
