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The Street
The Street
Ross Kohan

New home sales skyrocketed in March as existing home sales plunged

Caroline Woods brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets close trading on Tuesday, April 23.

Related: Stock Market Today: Stocks higher amid earnings parade; GM, GE, UPS report

Full Video Transcript Below:

Caroline Woods: I’m Caroline Woods reporting from the New York Stock Exchange - here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today. 

Wall Street is keeping its eye on the ongoing earnings parade, as analysts digest the latest results from Tesla and Visa after Tuesday’s closing bell.  

Investors will also be looking out for first quarter GDP, set to be released Thursday, and the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge - the PCE Index - is out Friday. The Central Bank will make another decision on interest rates on April 30th.

In other news - despite consistently high mortgage rates, sales of newly built homes in the united states rose significantly in march. New home sales increased by 8.8 percent to 693,000, easily beating economists projections by more than 20,000 sales. It’s the strongest monthly increase in more than two years, according to a FactSet poll.

However, sales of existing homes dropped by 4.3 percent - the steepest decline in more than a year, according to the national association of realtors. Existing homes make up the majority of the U.S. housing market. The national median cost for a home in the u-s was $393,500 in march, up almost 5 percent year-over-year.

And economists believe the housing market will remain difficult for prospective home buyers. Mortgage rates are predicted to remain above 6 percent for the remainder of 2024. And while the Federal Reserve doesn’t set mortgage rates, the Central Bank’s decision on interest rates does influence them. The Fed is not expected to cut rates at its upcoming meeting. 

That’ll do it for your daily briefing - from the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Caroline Woods with TheStreet.

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