REUTERS: In signs an economic recovery may be picking up speed, U.S. home sales rose at a record rate for a second straight month in July, and purchasing managers in both the manufacturing and services sectors report business activity has accelerated at a brisker-than-expected pace this month.
“The housing market is well past the recovery phase and is now booming with higher home sales compared to the pre-pandemic days,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “With the sizable shift in remote work, current homeowners are looking for larger homes and this will lead to a secondary level of demand even into 2021.”AdvertisementEconomists polled by Reuters had forecast sales rising 14.7per cent to a rate of 5.38 million units in July.
The pandemic tipped the economy into recession in February, ending a record-long expansion that had brought U.S. unemployment to a 50-year low.Meanwhile, a purchasing managers' survey showed U.S. business activity snapped back to the highest since early 2019 in August as companies in both the manufacturing and services sectors saw a resurgence in new orders even as new COVID-19 cases remain stubbornly high across the country.
The survey's flash composite new orders index climbed to 54 in August - the highest since March 2019 - from a final reading of 49.7 in July. Foreign sales increased at the fastest rate since September 2014, it said, as more non-U.S. markets reopened their economies.
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