U.S. existing home sales probably held steady in July

U.S. existing home sales data posted 3.2% growth in June is likely to remain stable in July.

Apparently at odds with the reported falloff in dwellings going to contract in June, the preliminary canvass of state and local Multiple Listing Services data suggests that resales held steady at the 8½-year high seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million in July. Well above the 5.3-million average posted over the April-June span,  is expected to be consistent with another solid rise in brokers' commissions feeding into Q3 GDP, estimates Societe Generale.

With normal seasonal influences expected to boost the number of homes on the market by 2.5% to 2.36 million during the reference period, the stock of unsold dwellings likely moved two ticks higher to 5.2 months' supply, adds SocGen.