· May existing home sales increased 1.1% to an annualized rate of 5,620 thousand units. The May figure was 2.7% above the May 2016 figure. The median sales price of existing houses sold was $252.8 thousand, 5.8% above May 2016. There were 1,960 thousand homes for sale at the end of the month. This represents a supply of 4.2 months at the current sales rate, compared to 4.7 in May of 2016.
· Sales of new single-family houses increased 2.9% in May to an annualized rate of 610 thousand units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The May figure was 8.9% above the May 2016 figure. The median sales price of new houses sold was $345.8 thousand, 16.8% above May 2016.
· U.S. House prices rose 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from March to April, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA). For the 12 months ending in April, U.S. prices rose 6.8%. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from March 2017 to April 2017 ranged from negative 0.1% in the East South Central division to positive 1.6% in the West South Central division. The 12-month changes were all positive, ranging from 4.7% in the West North Central division to 8.9% in the Mountain division.
· The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed average fixed mortgage rates are continuing to hold at year-to-date lows. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.90% for the week ending June 22, down slightly from last week when it averaged 3.91%. A year ago this time, the 30-year fixed-rate averaged 3.56%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.17% for the week ending June 22, down slightly from last week when it averaged 3.15%. A year ago this time, the 15-year fixed-rate averaged 2.74%.
· Mortgage applications increased 0.6% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending June 16th.
· The U.S. current-account deficit increased to $116.8 billion (preliminary) in the first quarter of 2017 from $114.0 billion (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The deficit increased to 2.5% of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.4% in the previous quarter. The $2.8 billion increase in the current-account deficit reflected a $5.3 billion increase in the in the deficit on goods, and a $3.6 billion decrease in the surplus on primary income that was largely offset by a $5.8 billion decrease in the deficit on secondary income and a $0.3 billion increase in the surplus on services.
· The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 3 thousand to 241 thousand in the week ending June 17. The 4-week moving average was 244.75 thousand, an increase of 1.5 thousand from the previous week’s average. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (ongoing) during the week ending June 10 was 1,944 thousand, an increase of 8 thousand from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 1,932 thousand, an increase of 5 thousand from the previous week’s revised average.
· The Conference Board index of leading economic indicators increased 0.3% in May, following an increase of 0.2% in the previous month. Over the six-month span through May, the leading index increased 2.3% (about a 4.7% annual rate), with seven out of ten components advancing. The Conference Board coincident economic index increased 0.1% in May, following a 0.3% increase in the previous month. Over the six-month span through May, the coincident index increased 1.1% % (about a 2.1% annual rate), with all four components advancing.