Wednesday, March 23, 2011

New Home Sales Hit Record Low; Gold Jumps

For last February, new-home sales hit a record low. Tumbling by 16.9% to a seasonally-adjusted 250,000 in that month, the percentage drop was accentuated by an upward revision of January's figure. Still, in absolute terms, it was the worst month since records began. All regions except the West had record lows. The median new-home price also tumbled; it was down a record-breaking 13.9% from Jaunary to $202,100. That average, despite the tumble, is still well above the median used price of $156,100. The supply backlog shrunk slightly to 8.9 month from 9.1 months.


Gold liked that tumble a lot, as it signifies further trouble adding to the Fed's reluctance to tighten. Although intially dropping to $1,431 right after 10 AM ET, it quickly turned upward and shot up to $1,437. As of the time of this post, its run continued as the metal was closing in on $1,440.

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