US home sales on the rise as Fed official says QE3 is not required
HIGH levels of American home sales were recorded in April, boosting hopes for the US recovery, as a leading member of the Federal Reserve said that conditions are not ripe for more quantitative easing.
Sales of already-owned homes shot up by 3.4 per cent to an annual rate of 4.62m units last month, the highest since May 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Across the US, the median average price for a re-sold home jumped to $177,400 in April, up 10.1 per cent from a year earlier – the biggest annual increase since January 2006.
Yet prices rose in large part because a drop in foreclosures led to fewer distressed sales, said NAR economist Lawrence Yun.
Nonetheless the housing data was surprisingly bullish, and separately senior official Dennis Lockhart said that the Fed should make it clear that the economic climate does not warrant further bond buying.
“QE3 will work under the right circumstances,” Lockhart said. “But I don’t believe such circumstances prevail at his time.”