Spending on U.S. construction projects increased 0.9% in November as strength in home building offset weakness in other parts of the construction industry.
The organizers of an indoor music festival in Barcelona to test the effectiveness of same-day coronavirus screening said Wednesday that preliminary results indicate there was zero transmission inside the venue.
The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes declined last month, but was still a record high for November when a seasonal slowdown traditionally seeps into the real estate market.
U.S. long-term mortgage rates edged lower this week, reaching record lows for the 14th time this year against the backdrop of the pandemic-ravaged economy. Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan slipped to 2.71% from 2.72% last week. By contrast, the benchmark rate stood at 3.68% a year ago.
U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week, reaching record lows for the 13th time this year amid fresh signs of weakness in the pandemic-ravaged economy. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year benchmark loan declined to 2.72% from 2.84% last week. By contrast, the rate averaged 3.66% a year ago.
Sales of new homes fell by 3.5% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000 million units, the Commerce Department said Monday, as the housing market's hot summer buying season cooled.
Sales of existing homes rose for a fifth straight month in October, reaching a level not seen since before the housing bubble popped 14 years ago. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday existing homes sales rose 4.3% to an seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.85 million annualized units. Reflecting the searing-hot housing market, that figure is up 26.6% from a year earlier.
The U.S. housing market has staged a furious comeback this summer, even as the economy struggles to regain its footing after being knocked into a recession due to the coronavirus. After stalling in the first few weeks of the pandemic, U.S. home sales have surged in recent months to the highest level in more than a decade.
Sales of existing homes climbed 9.4% in September, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, the latest sign that the housing market remains red hot despite the coronavirus pandemic. On a seasonally adjusted rate, the selling pace of existing homes climbed to 6.54 million annualized units. That is the highest level for that metric since February 2006, at the peak of the previous housing bubble.