- New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 1.1% in September, while shipments decreased 0.4%. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.3%, while shipments held steady. Year-to-date new orders were down 0.8% from the same period a year ago, while shipments were up 2.2%.
- September new home sales decreased 0.7% to an annualized rate of 701 thousand units. The September figure was 15.5% above the September 2018 figure. The median sales price of new houses sold was $299.4 thousand, 8.8% below September 2018.
- Total existing home sales decreased 2.2% in September from the previous month, but sales were up 3.9% from a year ago. The median existing home price was $272.1 thousand, up 5.9% from September 2018. Total housing inventory at the end of September was 1.83 million, 2.7% below a year ago. This inventory was at a 4.1-month supply at the current sales rate, down from 4.4 month a year ago.
- The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey showed average mortgage rates increasing and reaching their highest levels in 12 weeks. 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.75% for the week ending October 24, up from last week when it averaged 3.69%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year rate was 4.86%. 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.18%, up from last week when it averaged 3.15%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year rate was 4.29%.
- Mortgage applications decreased 11.9% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending October 18th.
- The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance decreased 6 thousand to 212 thousand in the week ending October 19. The 4-week moving average was 215 thousand, a decrease of 0.75 thousand from the previous week’s revised average. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (ongoing) during the week ending October 12 was 1,682 thousand, a decrease of a thousand from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 1,677.25 thousand, an increase of 6.5 thousand from the previous week’s revised average.
- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment for October increased to 95.5, from 93.2 in September. The Index was 98.6 in October 2018.
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