Weather Still Playing a Role in Sales Activity
- Home buying season is in full swing, but new home sales activity is not in tune with other housing market indicators. Following three straight monthly gains, new home sales fell more than expected in March to its lowest level since November. The sharp drop, however, is not indicative of the momentum in the housing market as sales are still shaking off the effect of unusually harsh winter weather conditions.
Purchase Applications on the Rise
- Along with rising builder sentiment, mortgage purchase activity is firming. Purchase applications rose more than 15 percent year over year, with increases in both conventional and governmentbacked loans. In fact, modifications to mortgage underwriting and the reduction in FHA mortgage insurance costs likely helped fuel recent gains in purchase applications. Lean inventories will likely be the largest hurdle for sales activity.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
AUD/USD remained bid above 0.6500
AUD/USD extended further its bullish performance, advancing for the fourth session in a row on Thursday, although a sustainable breakout of the key 200-day SMA at 0.6526 still remain elusive.
EUR/USD faces a minor resistance near at 1.0750
EUR/USD quickly left behind Wednesday’s small downtick and resumed its uptrend north of 1.0700 the figure, always on the back of the persistent sell-off in the US Dollar ahead of key PCE data on Friday.
Gold holds around $2,330 after dismal US data
Gold fell below $2,320 in the early American session as US yields shot higher after the data showed a significant increase in the US GDP price deflator in Q1. With safe-haven flows dominating the markets, however, XAU/USD reversed its direction and rose above $2,340.
Bitcoin price continues to get rejected from $65K resistance as SEC delays decision on spot BTC ETF options
Bitcoin (BTC) price has markets in disarray, provoking a broader market crash as it slumped to the $62,000 range on Thursday. Meanwhile, reverberations from spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to influence the market.
US economy: slower growth with stronger inflation
The dollar strengthened, and stocks fell after statistical data from the US. The focus was on the preliminary estimate of GDP for the first quarter. Annualised quarterly growth came in at just 1.6%, down from the 2.5% and 3.4% previously forecast.