Posted on 07/28/2005 6:08:15 AM PDT by OESY
Sales of new homes and orders for durable goods rose faster than expected last month, the government reported yesterday, providing more indications that the economy is expanding at a brisk pace.
Separately, the Federal Reserve said that the economic expansion had picked up steam and that inflation remained at bay in June and early July.
The central bank's beige book, a periodic survey on economic conditions, noted broad strength in housing, manufacturing, tourism, consumer spending and banking.
New-home sales rose by 4 percent, to an annualized rate of 1.37 million in June, breaking a record set the month before, according to the Commerce Department. The latest figures come after a report earlier in the week that showed sales of existing homes also hit a record in June.
Economists were expecting 1.3 million new homes to be sold in June....
"The housing numbers are not surprising with mortgage rates as low as they are," said Anthony Chan, senior economist at JPMorgan Asset Management. "But low interest rates won't last forever."
Mortgage rates... have inched up a little in recent weeks but remain at historic lows.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 5.73 percent last week, down from 5.98 percent this time last year but up from 5.66 percent earlier this month, according to Freddie Mac.
According to the Federal Reserve's survey, home sales remain strong nationally, but price and sales growth eased a bit in June and early July in some of the hottest markets, including New York, Washington, Florida and California.
The scene on the nation's factory floors was also vibrant. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that orders for durable goods, products expected to last three or more years, were up 1.4 percent in June after posting a 6.4 percent gain in May.
The increase beat economists' expectations....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Must have killed them to write that headline!
Just think: a few more busloads of union-funded thugs and serial voters in Cleveland, and they would be calling it the "Kerry Recovery."
This is going to ruin Paul Krugman's day as it flies in the face of his predictions.
It makes me very nervous when the NYT predicts brisk economic growth. It probably means the economy is about to tank.
the next election isn't for another 15 months
This is going to ruin Paul Krugman's day as it flies in the face of his predictions.
bad timing for mr krugman if you read his op-ed piece from earlier in the week
The worse economy since Herbert Hoover damages Paul Krugman again, again, again, and again.
Krugman like the Plames is a bias political operative and not an economist, as he pretends to be.
It's NOT Bushs fault!
Exactly...Krugman is a sophister...and an agenda driven nutjub that doesn't let the facts get in the way of his petty grievences against the current administration.
He lost any credibility long, long, long ago, and that's only if you believe he had any to start.
Like most of the NYT his pieces are a waste of type and paper.
Your summary of Herr Krugman is excellent and right on target.
The NY Slimes has few if any real reporters left. All of the rest are left wing nut jobs posing as reporters.
Jayson Blair was just the tip of the berg.
I'm worried. In the past week or so there have been a couple of articles that were fair and balanced, coming from this usually unreliable source.
Seems all the usual public enemies will be eating crow.
Unless she is still trying to work through the backlog of servings she has recently racked up, we should send some to Molly Ivins, too.
Never in a million years will we get such an admission from her heinous.
It's great that people are buying homes. People who own homes are a positive influence on reducing the socialism infecting the country. Oregon passing Measure 37 that demands payment to property owners of any regulation that reduces property value is one positive indicator.
Now we need to get rid of bureaucrats and their idiotic rules that add thousands of dollars to each newly built home.
We also need to get rid of stupid home inspection fees and permits which are nothing more than a tax. In California homeowners must now apply for a permit to put a light switch in. The cost? $81.
That is one good thing about Ms. Ivins: she admits it when she gets things wrong. Not enough other columnists do, regardless of their political persuasion or field in which they write.
economic expansion had picked up steam and that inflation remained at bay in June and early July.>>>>>>
I hate to throw a damper on your party but please explain to me how inflation is at bay when housing prices are going into the stratosphere and lunch at a low end eatery costs what I paid for a nice dinner just a few years ago. Inflation is at bay in somebody's dream.
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