Sonja Rudd Commerce Quotations

New home sales surprised the experts. The Commerce Department said that new home sales were up by 13.8% for March, and last week used home sales were up as well. One economist says that the housing market still has a lot of room to maneuver and that a slump is more like a 'soft landing' for 2006. The 30-year mortgage is averaging 6.49% nationwide.

The Labor Department noted that first time claims were down to 271,000, some of the lowest numbers since 2000. New housing starts fell 8.9% in December according to the Commerce Department and new building permits also dropped by 4.4%.