By CountingPips.com
U.S. existing-homes sales data declined for the third straight month of February, according to the monthly report produced by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR report showed that existing-home sales including single family homes, co-ops and townhouses fell by 0.6 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million units. January’s existing-homes sales data had decreased by 7.2 percent to a 5.05 million home rate while December sales dropped by over 16 percent. Despite the monthly decline, February’s existing-home sales have increased by 7.0 percent an annual basis over the February 2009 level.
Market forecasters had predicted the sales data would rise by 1.1 percent in February to a 5.00 million unit sales pace.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented in the report about the lower sales figures, “Some closings were simply postponed by winter storms, but buyers couldn’t get out to look at homes in some areas and that should negatively impact near-term contract activity.”
“Although sales have been higher than year-ago levels for eight straight months and home prices are much more stable compared to the past few years, the housing recovery is fragile at the moment.”
Sales in the Northeast increased by 2.4 percent in February while the Midwest sales rose by 2.8 percent. The West saw its existing-home sales fall by 4.7 percent and sales dipped 1.1 percent in the South. On an annual basis, the Northeast leads the increases above the February 2009 level with an increase of 12.0 percent with the South (6.9%), West (3.4%) and Midwest (8.8%) all showing rises on an annual basis.
The median sales price for existing homes declined to $165,100 on an annual basis in February, a decline of 1.8 percent from the February 2009 level. Total housing inventory increased in February by 9.5 percent to a total of 3.59 million homes, a 8.6-month supply.
FOREX: US Dollar trades mixed in fx markets, Stocks gain
The US Dollar has been mixed in forex trading today while the U.S. stock markets have advanced higher. The American currency has increased today versus the euro, British pound, and Japanese yen while falling against the Canadian dollar and Australian dollar, according to currency data by Oanda at 4:28 pm EST in the U.S. session. The New Zealand dollar and Swiss franc are trading close to unchanged against the USD at time of writing.
The US stock markets, meanwhile, climbed higher today with the Dow Jones advancing by 102.94 points, the Nasdaq increasing 19.84 points and the S&P 500 up by 8.36 points. Oil has edged higher by $0.30 to trade at $81.90 while gold has advanced by $4.20 to trade at the $1,103.50 per ounce level.
AUD/USD 1-Hour Chart – The Australian dollar gaining slightly versus the US dollar in forex trading today. The AUD/USD has bounced back from yesterday’s dip to the 0.9084 level and now trades above the 61.8 fibonacci retracement level on the move from 0.9251 to 0.9084.
