Gains in US home sales, starts probably failed to make up lost ground

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FE Team | Published: April 18, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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WASHINGTON, Apr 17 (Bloomberg):March increases in home sales and construction probably failed to make up for the ground lost the prior month, showing the U.S. residential real estate market continues to struggle almost two years into the economic recovery, economists said before reports this week. Purchases of existing homes rose 2.5 per cent to a 5 million annual rate after dropping 9.6 per cent in February, according to the median forecast of 60 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Another report may show builders began work last month on 8.6 per cent more houses following a 23 per cent plunge. "We're unlikely to see any significant, fundamental rebound in housing in the near term," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. Housing, which pushed the economy into the recession, remains the weak link in the recovery and continues to weigh on consumer spending as home prices fall. Manufacturing, which has been at the forefront of the expansion, may cool in coming months as producers face supply shortages caused by last month's earthquake and the nuclear crisis in Japan. "As we head into the second quarter, there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty about where things are headed," said Stanley.