New Home Sales Slide, Durable Goods Orders Unchanged
WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) — Two new economic reports out Wednesday provide no immediate reason for optimism.
The Commerce Department says sales of new homes fell 2.5 percent in May, marking the sixth decline in seven months. Further demonstrating the housing market slump, a measure of new home prices was down 5.7 percent from a year ago.
The inventory of unsold homes surged to nearly 11 months in May. That’s how long it would take to exhaust the supply of unsold homes.
New home sales were down most in the West, off 11.6 percent. Sales dropped 7.9 percent in the Northeast. But sales rose in the Midwest and the South.
Also Wednesday, the government said orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods were unchanged in May. Strength in demand for aircraft and computers was offset by widespread weakness in other categories.
