Sales of new homes and apartments fell by 17.6% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.84 million units, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
OC’s top homebuilder stocks finished upward at close of trading on Tuesday, unaffected by the news.
Many analysts had expected a decline of 4.8%, as mortgage rates trended upward last month.
Irvine’s Standard Pacific Corp. rose 1.5% to about $68, and Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes Inc. slightly rose to $74.6. Both stocks had been falling since late February.
In the past week or so, long-term interest rates have dipped, yet again, on soft economic data,one explanation for resiliency of builder stocks.
Prices of the 10-year Treasury rose slightly in early trading, pushing the yield down to 4.21%.
