· New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased 6.8% in July, while shipments increased 0.4%. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.5%. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 7.8%. Year-to-date, new orders were up 5.0%, and shipments were up 3.2% from the same period a year ago.
· July existing home sales were down 1.3% from the previous month, but were up 2.1% from a year ago. The median sales price of existing houses sold was $258.3 thousand, 6.2% above July 2016.
· July new home sales were down 9.4% from the previous month, and were down 8.9% from July 2016 figure. The median sales price of new houses sold was $313.7 thousand, 6.3% above July 2016.
· U.S. House prices rose 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from May to June, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) monthly House Price Index. For the 12 months ending in June, U.S. prices rose 6.5%.
· The results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey of August 24th showed average fixed mortgage rates dropping to its lowest mark since November 10, 2016. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.86% for the week ending August 24th, down from last week when it averaged 3.89%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.43%.
· Mortgage applications decreased 0.5% from a week earlier, according to data from Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending August 18th.
· The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 2 thousand to 234 thousand in the week ending August 19th. The 4-week moving average was 237.75 thousand, a decrease of 2.75 thousand from the previous week’s average.