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Housing market cools off; oil's decline boosts stocksPosted by admin on: 2005-11-18 10:09:43 in category:
Retirement Headlines [ Print | Permalink / 0 Comment(s) ] Nov. 17, 2005 WASHINGTON - Housing construction and new building permits were down sharply in October, providing fresh evidence that rising mortgage rates are beginning to cool the five-year housing boom. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that construction of new homes and apartments fell 5.6 percent last month, the biggest decline in seven months. Applications for new building permits, a good sign of future activity, fell by 6.7 percent, the biggest decline in six years. Analysts said the weaker-than-expected figures, combined with evidence homes are staying on the market longer, indicate the hot real estate market is cooling off. The fear is that home values have soared to such high levels that a slowing in demand could cause those prices to drop sharply, raising risks to recent purchasers who could end up with mortgage burdens that are higher than the falling values of their homes. On Wall Street, stocks surged Thursday as investors were cheered that oil prices fell to their lowest levels in five months. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.46 points to close at 10,720.22. The Nasdaq rose 32.53, or 1.49 percent, to 2,220.46, just surpassing its previous 52-week high, reached in July. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.59, or 0.94 percent, to 1,242.80. Industrial output data also cheered investors. Output from manufacturing, mines and utilities rose a healthy 0.9 percent last month as refineries and oil and natural gas platforms began production again after widespread shutdowns caused by hurricanes. In another sign that the economy is recovering from the hurricanes, the Labor Department said storm-related job losses edged down last week to 19,000, far below the high of 108,000 hurricane-related layoffs recorded the third week of September. Over the past 11 weeks, the number of jobs lost because of hurricanes totaled 561,400. Overall jobless claims fell by 25,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 303,000, the lowest level since mid-April. Open community websites http://www.business-business.biz http://www.investment-investment.us http://www.retirement-retirement.com Recommended sites To design your custom retirement plan. http://www.retirement-plan.us For planning an IRA rollover this is the site to review. http://www.ira-rollover.us For professional asset allocation and the wonders it can do. http://www.asset-allocation.us Managers selected to fit your needs. http://www.money-managers.us |
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