Have The Recent Sales Activity Taken A Break?
Sales growth has ground to a halt. Sales of existing homes dropped to 5.36 million on an annualized rate for October. That's a 3.4% decline from September sales.
Year-over-year sales growth has dropped to 3.9%, the lowest reading since January. Supply is still an issue. It currently stands at 4.8 months at October's sales rate. A year ago, supply stood at 5.2 months.
Despite the recent spat of negative news, we remain positive. When economic growth is considered, it's possible the past two months of sales and price data are an anomaly. The economy continues to grow, with third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) revised up to 2.1% annualized growth.
The initial report last month showed growth at 1.5%. Readings on consumer activity remain positive, which supports the contention that U.S. consumers continue to drive demand for U.S. production. A spending consumer is a confident consumer.
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