U.S. New Home Sales Rose again in May 2013

The U.S. Census Bureau reported (opens pdf) today on the changes in number of new homes sold in the U.S during May 2013: the number of new homes sales increased compared with the number of new homes sold during April 2013. The recent rise in the number of homes sold show the progress in the housing market is still progressing. Let’s examine the effect this news may have had on commodities and stocks markets.  

Based on the latest report, during May 2013 the annual rate of number of U.S new home sales reached 476,000 (seasonally adjusted); this figure is 2.1 percent above the revised annual rate in April 2013 of 466,000 sales, and it is also 29% above the annual rate in May 2012.

The median sales price of new dwellings sold in May 2013 reached $263,900. In April, the median sales price was $272,600 but in May 2012 the price was 239,200 – this represents a 10% yearly gain in price.

Durable Goods are up

The U.S durable goods monthly update was released today as well: The report showed new orders of manufactured durable goods rose by $8.0 billion or 3.6% during May to reach $231.0 billion. Shipments, inventories and non-defense new orders for capital goods also rose during the previous month.

Consumer Confidence is rising

Finally, consumer confidence report also was published today: It showed another rise in consumer confidence index as of June. The index increased to 81.4 (1985=100).

All three of these positive news items show ongoing progress of the U.S economy. This news may have helped pull up the U.S stock markets as the NASDAQ, Dow Jones and S&P500 increased during the day and may further rally tomorrow. Conversely, these reports could bring the Fed into tapering its QE3 program one step closer. Therefore, they could also adversely affect gold and silver prices. Finally, new home sales report tends to be negatively correlated with gold and silver prices (that should be taken with a grain of salt) and as the number of houses sold increase, the prices of precious metals tend to decline.

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