Housing Sales Shoot Up 9.7 %

Orders to U.S. factories climbed 2.1% in May, while housing sales, spurred on by declining interest rates, rose by an even more robust 9.7%, the government reported today.

In the first of two new May reports that seemed to point to a rebounding economy, the Commerce Department said orders for manufactured goods advanced for the first time in four months.

It said such orders totaled $195.1 billion in May, a $4-billion gain from the April level and the largest increase since a 4.4% rise last November.

The gain in housing sales was the biggest increase in eight months, reversing much of an 11.5% decline suffered in April. It was the largest increase since a 20.3% jump last September.

The May gain left sales of new single-family homes at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000. Many analysts are predicting further sales gains in the months ahead as mortgage interest rates decline further.