US Existing Home Sales rise more than expected in July. | CountingPips Forex Blog

August 25, 2008 - Forex Economic News

US Existing Home Sales rise more than expected in July.

U.S. Existing Homes sales increased more than expected for the month of July according to the monthly report produced by the National Association of Realtors. The NAR report showed that existing-home sales including single family homes, co-ops and townhouses increased 3.1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.00 million units. Economic forecasts were predicting an increase of 0.8 percent for the month following a 2.8 percent decrease in June. July's existing-homes sales, despite the increase for the month, are still 13.1 percent Currency Trading News below July 2007's sales pace of 5.76 million units. The median sales price for existing homes in July was $212,400. This is down 7.1 percent from July 2007 which produced a median price of $228,600. Total housing inventory showed an increase in July by 3.9 percent to a total of 4.67 million homes.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun commented on July's increase in home sales, "Sales have picked up significantly in several Florida and California markets. Home prices generally follow sales trends after a few months of lag time,” he said. “Still, inventory remains high in many parts of the country and will require time to fully absorb. We expect more balanced conditions in 2009 and will eventually return to normal long-term appreciation patterns"

US Dollar mixed in Forex Trading.

The U.S. dollar has been mixed in the forex market against most of the major currencies to start the week as there has not been much movement from last week's close. Last week saw the US dollar decline verses the euro for the first time after five consecutive gaining weeks. The dollar closed higher verses the British pound sterling and the Swiss franc last week, continuing its winning streak against the pound to a fifth consecutive week and the franc for a sixth consecutive week. Against the yen, the dollar had an up and down week starting the week trading above 110.50 and falling below 108.20 before coming back to trade above 110.00 and showing a slight loss. Elsewhere, the US dollar lost ground last week to the Canadian dollar at 1.0469 and New Zealand dollar at 0.7087 while having a virtually unchanged exchange rate against the Australian dollar at 0.8662.

USD/CHF Chart - The dollar closed higher verses the Swiss franc for the sixth consecutive week.(Daily Chart)

Forex Chart

tags: us existing home sales, forex trading, forex market, currency rates

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