March home sales were a mixed bag

TheStreet’s Caroline Woods brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and an update on the housing market.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Caroline Woods reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:03 Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:05 Wall Street is keeping its eye on the ongoing earnings parade as analysts digest the latest

00:11 results from Tesla and Visa after Tuesday's closing bell.

00:16 Investors will also be looking out for first quarter GDP set to be released Thursday and

00:21 the Fed's favorite inflation gauge, the PCE index, which is out Friday.

00:25 The central bank will make another decision on interest rates on April 30th.

00:30 In other news, despite consistently high mortgage rates, sales of newly built homes in the United

00:35 States rose significantly in March.

00:37 New home sales increased by 8.8 percent to 693,000, easily beating economists' projections

00:44 by more than 20,000 sales.

00:46 It's the strongest monthly increase in more than two years, according to a Faxet poll.

00:51 However, sales of existing homes dropped by 4.3 percent, the steepest decline in more

00:57 than a year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

01:01 Existing homes make up the majority of the U.S. housing market.

01:04 The national median cost for a home in the U.S. was $393,500 in March, up almost 5 percent

01:12 year over year.

01:13 And economists believe the housing market will remain difficult for prospective home

01:17 buyers.

01:18 Mortgage rates are predicted to remain above 6 percent for the remainder of 2024.

01:22 And while the Fed doesn't set mortgage rates, the central bank's decision on interest rates

01:27 does influence them.

01:28 The Fed is not expected to cut rates at its upcoming meeting.

01:32 That will do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:35 I'm Caroline Woods with The Street.

01:36 Thanks for joining us.

01:37 Thanks for having me.

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