Reprinted by permission from
Mike Platt--Senior Loan Officer
Prospect Mortgage
1885 Seminole Trail, Suite 100
(The Keller Williams Building)
Charlottesville  VA  22901

Charlottesville Virginia Real Estate-Economic Up-date
August 25th, 2009

Existing home sales rose 7.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units from a revised level of 4.89 million units in June. July marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase in existing home sales and it was the largest monthly gain since recordkeeping began.

The National Association of Home Builders / Wells Fargo housing market index rose one point in August to 18. It was the highest level since June 2008. An index reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market.

The combined construction of new single-family homes and apartments in July decreased 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 581,000 units. This follows a 6.5% increase in June. However, construction of new single-family homes rose 1.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 490,000 units.

The producer price index, which tracks wholesale prices, fell 0.9% in July, following a 1.8% increase in June. Compared with a year earlier, wholesale prices were down 6.8%, the most since a 5.3% decrease in August 1949.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications for the week ending August 14 rose 5.6% to 527. Purchase volume rose 3.9% to 277.7. Refinancing applications increased 6.9% to 1,982.5. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 53.3% of total applications from 52.3% the previous week.

The index of leading economic indicators — designed to forecast economic activity in the next three to six months — rose 0.6% in July after a revised 0.8% gain in June. It was the fourth straight monthly increase and an indication the recession might be nearing an end.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 15,000 to 576,000 in the week ending August 15. The figure was higher than the 550,000 that economists had forecast. The number of people continuing to claim jobless benefits in the week ending August 8 fell by 2,000 to 6.24 million.

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