Spotlight on economy: New home sales, durable-good

Spotlight on economy: New home sales, durable-goods orders may recover
Sales of new homes and business investment in the U.S., omitting the volatile airline industry, likely rebounded in August after both fell in July, according to economists polled by MarketWatch.

New home sales are forecast to rise to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 420,000, according to economists surveyed by MarketWatch. If August reached a rate of 420,000, new-homes sales would have increased 12% from the year-earlier period, with pent-up demand and low interest rates fueling growth.

Yet new-home sales remain far below a peak rate of almost 1.4 million in 2005, and there’s concern that rising mortgage rates are forcing some would-be buyers to scale back purchase plans. The U.S. Commerce Department will release the report at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Orders for big-ticket U.S. goods designed to last at least three years, meanwhile, probably fell in August for the second straight month, mainly because of fewer orders for jumbo aircraft. Yet most other manufacturers may have seen a pickup in demand, economists say.

New orders for durable goods are predicted to fall 1.5% in August after retreating 7.4% in July. The main source of the projected decline: Boeing. The airline manufacturer took in just 16 orders in August, down from a modest 90 in the prior month. The volatile nature of airline sales often skew the durables report.

Yet auto sales surged in August and most other manufacturers may have seen an increase in orders, economists say. Orders for so-called core capital goods, a proxy for U.S. business investment, likely rose after a 4% drop in July.

The durables report will be released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern by the Commerce Department. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/20...atest_news