The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views
The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views |
| US home resales climb, housing recovery gains traction Posted: 19 Nov 2012 07:47 AM PST  A worker building a townhouse sits on the framing in Colorado, US in this file photo. The National Association of Realtors said on Monday that existing home sales climbed 2.1 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million units, beating forecasts by Wall Street economists. – Reuters pic The National Association of Realtors said today that existing home sales climbed 2.1 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million units, beating forecasts by Wall Street economists. The data suggests America's recovery from the 2007-09 recession in becoming increasingly self-sustaining, with job creation helping drive home sales, which in turn are supporting economic growth. "The housing market is continuing to improve. It's probably improving more than most economists were projecting earlier this year," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. However, the data also showed that superstorm Sandy, a mammoth storm that slammed in the US East Coast on Oct. 29, continues to distort economic data in the United States. The deadly storm had only a slight impact on home resales last month, with sales dropping in the Northeast. But NAR economist Lawrence Yun said the storm could temporarily hold back the pace of sales in November and December. The storm, which killed more than 130 people in the United States and left millions of homes and businesses without electricity, also lead US factories to cut production in October while consumers pulled back on automobile purchases. Economists, however, think Sandy's impact on the economy will only prove temporary. The US jobless rate fell four tenths of a point to 7.9 per cent in the three months through October, although it remains elevated by historical standards. Many Wall Street economists think economic growth picked up sharply in the third quarter, although growth is expected to moderate in the last three months of the year as businesses and consumers hold back on purchases due to uncertainty over US fiscal policy in 2013. In October, the median price for a home resale was US$178,600 (RM547,140), up 11.1 per cent from a year earlier as fewer people sold their homes under distressed conditions compared to the same period in 2011. Distressed sales include foreclosures. The nation's inventory of existing homes for sale fell 1.4 per cent during the month to 2.14 million, the lowest level since December 2002. At the current pace of sales, inventories would be exhausted in 5.4 months, the lowest rate since February 2006. The price increase last month was measured against October 2011, and since then distressed sales have fallen to 24 per cent of total sales from 28 per cent. The share of distressed sales, which also include those where the sales price was below the amount owed on the home, was flat from September. A separate report showed US homebuilder sentiment rose for a seventh consecutive month in November, hitting its highest level in over six years as demand for new homes increased due to a shrinking supply of distressed and foreclosed inventory. The National Association of Home Builders said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index rose to 46 from 41 the month before. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted the index would remain unchanged. The index was at its highest level since May 2006. However, the gauge remained below 50, showing that the housing market was still some way off full recovery. Readings below 50 mean more builders view market conditions as poor than favourable. The index has not been above 50 since April 2006. The measure has made strong progress over the last year, helping to cement optimism in the sector. In November last year it stood at just 19. Housing led the financial crisis of 2008-09 and has been one of the biggest overhangs in the economic recovery. "Builders are reporting increasing demand for new homes as inventories of foreclosed and distressed properties begin to shrink in markets across the country," said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg in a statement. – Reuters |
| UN chief pushes for political dialogue in divided Yemen Posted: 19 Nov 2012 07:47 AM PST  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stands during Yemen's national anthem at a ceremony in Sanaa November 19, 2012. — Reuters pic Restoring stability in Yemen, a US ally grappling with al Qaeda militants and southern separatists, is an international priority due to fears of disorder ripping apart a state that flanks top oil producer Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes. "The United Nations is standing here to reconfirm its strong commitment that we stand side by side with the government and people of Yemen in your (pursuit of)... progress towards a better and prosperous future, characterised by reconciliation and democratic participation," Ban told a joint news conference with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in Sanaa. Ban was making his initial visit to the impoverished Arab country to mark the first anniversary of the US- and Gulf-sponsored power transfer accord that ended months of mass protests against veteran strongman President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The deal mandates Hadi to oversee major reforms during a two-year interim period to ensure a transition to democracy, including amending the constitution and restructuring the armed forces to break Saleh's family grip on them. The process is expected to lead to presidential and parliamentary election in 2014. But efforts to convene a national reconciliation dialogue central to reform has met resistance from south Yemen separatist leaders. Many have taken advantage of weakened central state authority in the south to return from exile and press for reviving the state that merged with north Yemen in 1990. Many southerners complain northerners based in the capital Sanaa have discriminated against them and usurped their resources. Most of Yemen's fast-declining oil reserves are in the south. The central government denies discriminatory policy. The UN envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, has been meeting with southern separatist leaders to try to persuade them to join the national reconciliation conference, which had been due to start this month. Ban says to push donors on pledges International donors, including Saudi Arabia, have pledged around US$8 billion (RM25 billion) in aid to Yemen, which was driven to the verge of bankruptcy and plunged into factional anarchy by the year-long uprising against Saleh. Ban said the United Nations would work closely with donors to ensure they met their commitments "as soon as possible to enable President Hadi to bring political, security and financial stability" to Yemen. "You are now starting the process of national dialogue and this process should be open for everyone including (those) who demanded change in the street and representatives of all the areas in the country," Ban said in a speech. Western nations suspect that some southern leaders are less interested in the dialogue and more in breaking away, possibly with the backing of Iran, arch-foe of the Saudis and Americans and vying with them for regional power. Secessionists in the south, Houthi Islamist tribal rebels in the north and al Qaeda militants all benefited from the popular upheaval that ousted Saleh in February. A US-backed army offensive ousted al Qaeda from several southern towns it had seized during the anti-Saleh uprising. But jihadi militants, exploiting popular discontent over poverty, unemployment and graft, remain strong in the region and have continued deadly attacks on government and security targets. Today, Hadi promised to continue with the restructuring of the army and security forces, which split between Saleh's allies and adversaries during last year's turmoil. He urged all political parties to join the national dialogue and stressed that elections, set for 2014, would take place on time. "We confirm we are moving ahead to meet the commitments towards our nation and people ... in the framework of the Gulf initiative," he said. — Reuters |
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