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The U.S Census Bureau reported that sales of newly built homes fell 16.6% in April from a downwardly revised March rate of 799,000. The April seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000 is down 26.9% from a year earlier and represents the fourth straight monthly decline. New home sales decreased in all regions; Northeast (-5.9%), Midwest (-15.1%), South (-19.8%), and West (-13.8%). The average sale price for a new home sold in April was $570,300, while the median price was $450,600, a 19.6% increase from a year ago. There were 444,000 new homes for sale as of the end of April, the vast majority of which were either under construction (288,000) or not yet started (118,000). The supply of new homes for sale increased to a 9-month supply in April, as compared to 6.9 months in March, and 4.7 months a year earlier. The number of homes sold in April and awaiting the start of construction, a measure of backlogs, rose to 185,000 up slightly from 181,000 the previous month.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that new orders for manufactured durable goods increased 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted $265.3 billion in April. The increase followed a downwardly revised 0.6% increase in March, originally reported as a +1.1% reading. A primary contributor to the increase was transportation equipment up 0.6% to 86.7B. On a year-over-year basis, new orders for manufactured durable goods grew 10.5%. Ex-defense orders rose 0.3% month over month, while ex-transportation orders also rose 0.3%. Core capital goods orders, which exclude the volatile aircraft and defense orders increased by 0.3%, this followed a 1.1% increase in March. Core durable goods shipments increased 0.2% in April, down from a 1.6% reading in March, and are up 11.0% year over year. Total durable-goods orders are up 10.6% from a year ago
The second estimate of GDP for 2022 Q1 reported a 1.5% decrease and follows an initial estimate of a 1.4% drop. Q4 2021 reported a 6.9% increase. The trade deficit was a primary contributor, reducing the GDP by 3.2 percentage points. Imports climbed 18.3% while exports fell by 5.4%. Both private inventory and residential investment were downwardly revised. Government spending across state, federal, and local governments declined 2.7%. An 8.5% reduction in defense spending was a primary contributor. Business spending on equipment reported up 13.2%, lower than the 15.3% first estimate. Gross private investment grew 0.5% down from the first estimate of 2.3% and residential investment rose 0.4% down from the first estimate of 2.1%. An upward revision in consumer spending wasn’t enough to offset the decreases. Consumer spending as gauged by personal consumption expenditures grew 3.1%, better than the first estimate of 2.7%.
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