Será? Eu acho que ainda é cedo.

"While great attention during past week was paid to the White House’s latest plans to stabilize the financial system, a slew of economic data provided some hope that the bottom of the recession may perhaps be nearing. One source of optimism was in the area of housing as both new and existing home sales increased in February. Another source for hope came from February durable goods data, which showed that new orders had increased for the first time since the summer.

Existing home sales grew in February at a pace not seen since the summer of 2003. During the month, condo sales increased 11.4% while single‐family homes grew 4.4%. All regions experienced a sales increase with the sales popping 15.6% in the Northeast and growing 6.1% in the South. Sales in the West grew 2.6% while they increased 1.0% in the Midwest. The inventory of unsold homes remained at a 9.7 month supply and the median home price dropped to $165,400, 15.5 % below levels of a year ago.

In February, sales of new homes grew 4.7% from January for the biggest gain since last spring. Despite this monthly gain, sales remained 41.1% from levels of a year ago. New home sales improved in the South and the West (+9.7% and +6.6%, respectively) but declined in the Northeast and Midwest (‐3.3% and ‐9.1%, respectively). The number of new homes available for sale continued to shrink—330,000 homes or a 12.2 month supply.

Durable Goods new orders increased for the 1st time since last summer. Goods enjoying the greatest gains included machinery, primary metals, electrical equipment and defense aircraft. Shipments dropped for the 7th month in a row but did so at its slowest pace since September (‐0.5%). Unfilled orders declined 1.3% (the 5th consecutive decline) while inventories slipped 0.9%. The inventories‐to‐shipments ratio fell slightly, but remained at near record levels (1.88 months)."


AFP EconWatch (March 30, 2009)