Local homebuilder stocks were mixed Tuesday after some positive national sales data was released.
U.S. sales of new homes rose 12% last month to an annualized rate of 1.43 million, the Commerce Department said. That’s up from a rate of 1.23 million in February.
Some economists had expected sales to fall to 1.19 million. The report indicated the Federal Reserve’s policy of raising interest rates hasn’t cooled off the interest in home buying.
Local home-selling data recently has shown OC’s market mostly has recovered from the past summer’s sales lull.
Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp.’s stock was down 1% to $69 Tuesday. Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes Inc. rose about 1% to just shy of $75.3.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 91 points to 10,151.
The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index fell 5.3 points to 97.7 for April. That’s down from a revised 103 reading in March. Some analysts had forecasted an April reading of 98.
