The nation’s housing droop deepened in January as dwelling gross sales fell for the twelfth month in a row to the slowest tempo in additional than a dozen years.
The National Association of Realtors stated Tuesday that current U.S. dwelling gross sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual fee of 4 million properties final month.
January’s gross sales cratered by almost 37% from a yr earlier and slipped 0.7% from December. Economists had projected a modest month-to-month rise in gross sales, in accordance with FactSet.
The median U.S. dwelling worth edged up 1.3% from January final yr to $359,000. That’s the slowest annual enhance in dwelling costs since February 2012.
The newest knowledge counsel dwelling could also be “bottoming out,” stated Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
Walmart earnings up, outlook cautious
Walmart Inc. turned in one other blowout quarter as extra buyers sought out its low costs, however the retailer supplied a cautious outlook for the present fiscal yr due to rising financial uncertainty.
Consumers are getting squeezed as rates of interest climb and financial savings charges fall, Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey stated Tuesday. That threatens spending at the same time as the corporate contends with pressures of its personal, equivalent to larger curiosity expense, taxes and the impression of its buy of full possession of a South African retailer and a US automation supplier.
“Our value proposition is certainly resonating with consumers right now, but there’s a lot of macroeconomic uncertainty,” Rainey stated in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We’re adopting a cautious outlook and we want to make sure we’re responsive to whatever environment we’re going to find ourselves in.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”