New Home Sales, Holiday Shopping, Foreclosure

December 23, 2015

Wednesday – December 23

The Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that New Home Sales rose 4.3% in November from October to an annual rate of 490,000 units. However, October was revised lower to 470,000 from 405,000, while estimates for November were to see sales rising to 505,000. New Home Sales are up 9.1% from a year earlier. Within the report it showed that inventories were at a 5.7 month supply, while the median price was $305,000, up 0.8% from a year earlier.

As the holiday shopping season got underway in November, Americans stepped up spending as the U.S. economic expansion continues, despite the sluggishness from abroad. Personal Spending rose by 0.3% in November from October, which measures what households pay for everything from washing machines to groceries. Consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of U.S. economic output. Within the report it showed that Personal Incomes rose 0.3% after rising 0.4% in October.

Black Knight Financial Services reported on Wednesday that foreclosure starts hit the lowest level in nine years in November. There were 66,000 foreclosure starts last month, down 9% from October and down nearly 10% from November 2014. The report also showed that the number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure is 2.491 million, which represents a month-over-month increase of 76,000 and a year-over-year decline of 546,000.