Thousands of leaseholders should benefit from leasehold changes, says CMA
- Latest: US PMI fell this month amid supply problems
- Hiring accelerates as UK firms juggle rising demand
- But inflation pressures also mount
- Lloyds bank closure plan criticised
- UK composite PMI dipped in June – has pace of recovery peaked?
- Eurozone economy rebounding as pandemic restrictions ease
Earlier:
Back in Europe, stock markets have closed in the red.
Germany’s DAX (-1.1%), Spain’s IBEX (-1.1%), Italy’s FTSE MIB (-0.95%) and France’s CAC (-0.9%) all finished lower.
US new home sales have dropped to a one-year low.
Purchases of new single-family homes fell 5.9% in May, to an annualised rate of 769,000. April’s figures were revised lower too, to 817,000, showing a steeper monthly fall.
New single-family home sales fell from 817,000 units at the annual rate in April to 769,000 units in May, a 12-month low. It was the fourth straight monthly decline, pulling back from January’s pace of 993,000 units, which was the strongest pace since December 2006. pic.twitter.com/wqBlUQG5SV
May new home sales incredibly weak at -5.9% vs. +0.2% est. & -7.8% in prior month (revised down from -5.9%); median new home price +18.1% y/y to $374,400; average selling price at $430,600 … months’ supply up to 5.1 vs. 4.6 in prior month pic.twitter.com/0qlU3c0MHF
The median sales prices for new homes jumped to $374,400 in May, a new record and up 18.1% from $317,100 one year ago.
More details on May new home sales. A year ago, 44% of new home sales were priced below $300,000. In May 2021, only 26% of new home sales were priced below $300,000. https://t.co/zxsQw6NLjL
New home sales fall short of expectations, but dropping lumber prices could provide breathing room https://t.co/7s9qb9upka pic.twitter.com/sec3pjEZhK
Shipping bottlenecks and higher input prices have held back homebuilding, contributing to skyrocketing prices for the limited supply of homes available. A silver lining of the report was data showing new-housing inventory continued to increase, though about a third of those homes have yet to be built.
Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said the sales drop might be a sign that demand in the suburbs has fallen as Covid-19 fears have faded, going so far as calling the end of the boom. By contrast, Stephen Stanley at Amherst Pierpont Securities calls it “mostly an anomaly.”
Sales of new U.S. homes dropped unexpectedly in May as elevated home prices and lean inventory constrained purchases https://t.co/GGjNwvU1Ko
