Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Friday 25 august 2017
A25

Pace of US home sales in July reached lowest level of 2017

By JOSH BOAK second straight monthly decline in listings has driven tate firm Zillow. market is also causing prop-
AP Economics Writer drop, sales are 2.1 percent up prices and made many The number of existing erties to sell more quickly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — higher than a year ago. homes unaffordable: Prices homes listed for sale has The average number of
Americans retreated from But purchases are starting are rising faster than the plunged 9 percent over days on the market was 30
buying homes in July as to slow as fewer properties wages of potential buyers the past 12 months to 1.92 in July, compared with 36 a
sales sank to their lowest are coming onto the mar- despite a solid job market. million. year ago.
level of the year. ket. “For more than two years In the meantime, the me- In July, sales plummeted
The National Association of The real estate market is now, inventory has been dian sales price has risen 14.5 percent in the North-
Realtors said Thursday that grappling with the con- has been contracting, 6.2 percent to $258,300 east and fell 5.3 percent
sales of existing homes fell sequences of a persistent pushing the housing mar- — more than double the in the Midwest. But buying
1.3 percent to a season- shortage of homes for sale ket into an inventory crisis,” pace of growth in average picked up 2.2 percent in
ally adjusted annual rate despite strong demand said Svenja Gudell, chief hourly earnings. the South and 5 percent in
of 5.44 million. Despite the from would-be buyers. The economist at the real es- The lack of homes on the the West.q

Up, down, back again: Stocks dip after meandering again

ter Amazon said it plans to ed higher earnings for the
cut prices for avocados, spring quarter than ana-
eggs and other products lysts forecast, along with
when it takes control of healthier revenue.
Whole Foods next week. Hurting stocks have been
Retailers, meanwhile, were worries about politics both
big winners after a wide in Washington and abroad.
variety said they earned Doubts are rising about
fatter profits last quarter how much help the Repub-
than Wall Street forecast. lican-led White House and
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Congress can provide for
index fell 5.07 points, or businesses. Several crucial
0.2 percent, to 2,438.97. deadlines are coming up
Through the day, it flipped that could damage the
between gains of up to 0.3 economy, including a vote
percent and losses of up to to avoid a default on the
0.3 percent. national debt, though most
The Dow Jones industrial investors expect calamity
average fell 28.69 points, to be averted.
or 0.1 percent, to 21,783.40, This week has also featured
the Nasdaq composite fell lighter trading than usual,
7.08 points, or 0.1 percent, with few market-moving
Trader Michael Milano works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stock indexes to 6,271.33 and the Russell events on the calendar.
ticked lower on Thursday, but only after a circuitous ride that saw them flip multiple times between 2000 index of small-cap That may be exacerbating
small gains and losses. stocks rose 4.14 points, or moves for the market. For
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) 0.3 percent, to 1,373.88. all the noise, though, the
The market has drifted up S&P 500 is still within 1.7 per-
By STAN CHOE them flip multiple times few weeks. and down since the S&P cent of its record.
AP Business Writer between small gains and Food companies struggled 500 set a record high earlier One event that could cap-
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. losses. It’s the latest mean- after the makers of Spam this month. Helping stocks ture the market’s attention
stock indexes ticked lower dering course for a mar- and Folgers coffee report- has been strong growth in is a symposium of central
on Thursday, but only after ket that’s been pushed in ed weaker-than-expected profits, and most S&P 500 bankers in Jackson Hole,
a circuitous ride that saw many directions the last results, and grocers fell af- companies have report- Wyoming. q
Amazon to close on Whole Foods buyout Monday

NEW YORK (AP) — Ama- through Amazon.com, the purchase. that it will join forces with Shares of other big grocery
zon will close its $13.7 bil- AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry By buying Whole Foods, Google to let shoppers businesses fell. The Kroger
lion buyout of Whole Foods and Prime Now. Amazon is taking a bold order goods by voice on Co. dropped nearly 8 per-
Market Inc. on Monday Whole Foods sharehold- step into brick-and-mortar, Google devices. cent. q
and plans to cut prices on ers approved the deal with more than 460 stores
grocery staples. Wednesday, and the Fed- and potentially very lucra-
Starting Monday, Whole eral Trade Commission said tive data about how shop-
Foods will offer lower prices it would not block the deal. pers behave offline.
on bananas, eggs, salmon, Amazon will pay Whole Meanwhile, rivals are
beef, and other products. Foods shareholders $42 per scrambling to catch up
Looking ahead, share, marking an 18 per- with the e-commerce gi-
the Seattle company cent premium from its stock ant. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
hopes to give Amazon price the day before the which has the largest share
Prime members special tie-up was announced on of the U.S. grocery market,
savings and other in-store June 16. is expanding its grocery
benefits. Earlier this month, Amazon. delivery service with ride-
Also, certain Whole Foods com Inc. sold $16 billion of hailing service Uber and
products will be available bonds in order to pay for announced Wednesday