"Housing will continue to recover gradually throughout the year …"
- Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas
U.S. new home sales declined to a five-month low of 350,000 unit annual rate in June after sales rose a two-year high in May, said the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
"While a housing recovery is under way ... fits and starts are to be expected and clearly this summer is one of the 'fits,'" Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at BTIG LLC, said in a note to clients.
"Housing will continue to recover gradually throughout the year but fundamentals are not supportive of a fully fledged housing market recovery," said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
U.S. stocks closed mixed the same day. The Standard & Poor's 500 slid 0.03%, or 0.42 points, to 1,337.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average appreciated 0.47%, or 58.73 points, to 12,676.05. The Nasdaq Composite erased 0.31%, or 8.75 points, to 2,854.24.
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