US retail sales gain slows in June, +7.5%: government

20:50, July 16, 2020

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  US housing starts jump 17.3% in June: government

  US home construction surged 17.3 percent in June, the Commerce Department said Friday, as the sector continued to gain ground following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.In this file photo taken on January 31, 2019, an aerial view of homes under construction at a housing development in Petaluma, California. US home construction surged 17.3 percent in June, the Commerce Department said on July 17, 2020. (Photo: AFP)The rebound in housing starts compared to May, came as the Northeast -- home to the worst initial outbreak of COIVD-19 -- saw a 114.3 percent spike compared to May, with the Midwest and South also seeing growth.But home construction initiated is down 4.0 percent from June 2019, according to the monthly data report.

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  US housing starts jump 17.3 pct in June: government

  File photo: AgenciesUS home construction surged17.3 percent in June, the Commerce Department said Friday, as the sector continued to gain ground following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The rebound in housing starts compared to May, came as the Northeast -- home to the worst initial outbreak of COIVD-19 -- saw a 114.3 percent spikecompared to May, with the Midwest and South also seeing growth.But home construction initiated is down 4.0 percent from June 2019, according to the monthly data report.

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  US existing home sales jump record 20.7% in June: survey

  Sales of existing homes jumped a record 20.7 percent in June, ending three months of coronavirus-driven declines as buyers returned to the market, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday.A "Buy A Home for $0.00 Down" sign is posted in Los Angeles, California on April 23, 2020, as new home sales in the United States plunged 16.4 percent in March, in latest figures, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: AFP)Sales were at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.72 million last month, slightly better than expected, though were down 11.3 percent from June 2019.NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun credited the month-on-month rebound to "buyers... eager to purchase homes and properties that they had been eyeing during the shutdown.""This revitalization looks to be sustainable for many months ahead as long as mortgage rates remain low and job gains continue."Sales rose in all regions with the nations west seeing the biggest jump, while prices were up 3.5 percent from a year ago.However inventory tightened, with unsold units dropping to a 4.0-month supply from 4.8 months in May, and total inventory at 1.57 million units -- down 18.2 percent from June 2019 even if its 1.3 percent above last month."Home prices rose during the lockdown and could rise even further due to heavy buyer competition and a significant shortage of supply," Yun said.The relatively healthy data comes despite otherwise gloomy projections for the US economy, where business shutdowns to stop COVID-19 sent the unemployment rate to 11.1 percent in June and a surge in cases has forced some areas to roll back steps to reopen."This might seem hard to square with the surge in unemployment," Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said of the NAR survey, "but the wave of job losses among the relatively young workforce in the leisure and hospitality sector has mostly hit renters; the median age of a US homebuyer is abou...