Tag Archives: Commerce Department

In a release on Monday, the Commerce Department estimated new home sales last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 412,000, a decline of 2.4 percent month-over-month. June sales received a slight upward revision to a rate of 422,000, while May sales were also bumped up in a second revision to 454,000—still far below the 504,000 originally reported by the government.

The U.S. economy experienced a sharp turnaround from the first quarter to the second, fueling hopes of a rebound as the rest of the year plays out. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to an advance estimate released by the Commerce Department. Growth came in at the high end of a survey of economists, with the consensus forecast calling for an increase of 3.1 percent.

The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that sales of new homes in June were at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of 406,000, reflecting a decline of 8.1 percent from May. May's sales rate, originally reported at 504,000, was revised down to 442,000, erasing much of the 18.6 percent gain that had been recorded previously.

Construction spending edged up 0.1 percent from April to May, though private homebuilding outlays came down slightly. The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction spending during May was at an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $956.1 billion, just up from April's revised estimate of $955.1 billion and 6.6 percent higher than the May 2013 estimate of $896.6 billion.