7/27: EconUpdate by P. Duffy

EconUpdate by P. Duffy

New home sales fall 6.6 percent from June, down 19.4 percent year-on-year

Sales of new single?family houses in June 2021 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000, this is 6.6 percent below the revised May rate of 724,000 and is 19.4 percent below the June 2020 estimate of 839,000.  The seasonally?adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 353,000. This represents a supply of 6.3 months at the current sales rate.

https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf

Early U.S. composite PMI index slips to 59.7 in July as expansion cools due to capacity constraints

U.S. private sector companies reported a further substantial expansion in business activity during July. That said, the rate of growth eased for the second month running to the softest since March, as firms continued to report widespread capacity constraints.

https://www.markiteconomics.com/Public/Home/PressRelease/5c13aaa0acb3461eb9acd7113cd2bb40

Investor home purchases rise 15.1 percent in 2Q21, up 106.7 percent year-on-year

Real estate investors purchased 67,943 U.S. homes in the second quarter of 2021—the highest quarterly figure on record. That’s up 15.1% from the prior quarter, and up 106.7% from the second quarter of 2020, when activity in the housing market was stalled due to pandemic restrictions. Investors bought about one of every six homes (15.9%) that were purchased in the second quarter of 2021—just shy of the 16.1% record market share they held in the first quarter of 2020.

https://www.redfin.com/news/investor-home-purchases-q2-2021/