Tag Archives: Census Bureau

Construction spending in June came to an estimated annual rate of $883.9 billion, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. June's spending was 0.6 percent below the revised May estimate of $889.4 billion but 3.3 percent above the June 2012 figure of $855.8 billion. Spending on residential construction in the private sector was at a pace of $332.1 billion, essentially flat from May and 18.1 percent above June 2012. Spending on public homebuilding was at a rate of $6.1 billion.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales welled 8.3 percent in June to 497,000, according to a report from the Census Bureau and HUD. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected June sales to increase to 484,000 from May's originally reported 476,000. The median price of a new home fell 5.0 percent in June to $249,700, the third time the median price has dropped in the last four months. At the same time, May's median price was revised down to $262,800 from the originally reported $263,900.

Existing-home sales fell 1.2 percent in June to an annual sales rate of 5.08 million as the price of a single-family home rose 13.5 percent from a year earlier--the strongest year-over-year gain since November 2005, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. The drop in sales came despite an increase in April in NAR├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Pending Home Sales Index, which tracks contracts for existing single-family homes. The index rose in April to 105.7 from 104.1 in March and fell in May.

Despite soaring builder confidence, new housing permits and starts fell in June, with new construction falling to the lowest level in 10 months, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new housing permits tumbled 7.5 percent--the largest month-over-month decline since January 2011--while starts fell 9.9 percent, the second-largest drop since February 2011. Builders completed homes at an annual adjusted pace of 755,000 in June, 6.3 percent more than May.

After surging in June, the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI)--a measure of builder confidence--shot up again in July, climbing six points to 57, its highest reading since January 2006, the group reported Tuesday. The two-month 13-point gain was the strongest two-month increase since January-February 1992, when the index improved 14 points. All three of the HMI components increased for the third month in a row.

Total retail activity rose $1.6 billion in June compared with an increase of $2.25 billion in May. Auto sales accounted for $1.4 billion of the June increase and sales at gasoline stations another $316 million. Gasoline prices rose about 1 cent per gallon from May ($3.68) to June ($3.69). In June, sales at building material and garden supply stores dropped $574 million from May, the largest month-over-month decline since May 2012. Sales increased in June at furniture stores, clothing stores, and health and personal care stores.

A report released Monday by the Census Bureau revealed an estimated annual rate of $874.9 billion (seasonally adjusted) for construction spending in the month of May 2013. Private residential construction spending was at a seasonally adjusted rate of $322.3 billion, 1.2 percent higher than the $318.5 billion revised April estimate. The month's nonresidential construction spending showed an annual rate of $238.1 billion, down 1.4 percent from the revised April estimate of $287.1 billion.

The price of a new single-family home dropped 3.2 percent in May, but sales increased 2.1 percent to 476,000, the highest level in almost five years.

Builder confidence surged eight points in June to 52, its highest reading since March 2006, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Monday. It was the first positive (above 50) reading for the association├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós Housing Market Index (HMI) since April 2006. Two of the three components of the index--builder assessment of current sales and of sales six months in the future--were also positive. The current sales index rose eight points to 56, and the future sales index jumped nine points to 61.

Driven by stronger auto sales but held back by falling gasoline sales, total retail sales increased 0.6 percent in May, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Excluding auto sales, retail activity increased 0.3 percent in May compared with April, when it was essentially flat.