This Week: New home sales, durable orders, holiday sales

The Commerce Department issues its November tally of new US home sales Monday and its latest snapshot of durable goods orders Tuesday

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

HOME SWEET HOME

The Commerce Department issues its November tally of new U.S. home sales Monday.

Sales dipped in October from the previous month, but remain well above year-ago levels. Low mortgage rates have helped drive sales higher by giving would-be buyers more pricing power. Economists forecast that new home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 737,000 units last month.

New home sales, seasonally adjusted annual rate, by month:

June 729,000

July 660,000

Aug. 706,000

Sept. 738,000

Oct. 733,000

Nov. (est.) 737,000

Source: FactSet

BIG JUMP IN ORDERS?

Economists predict that business orders for big-ticket manufactured goods rose sharply last month.

They expect that orders for durable goods, which are meant to last at least three years, climbed 2.2% in November. That would be the biggest monthly increase in more than a year. The Commerce Department serves up its snapshot of durable goods orders Monday.

Durable goods orders, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

June 1.8

July 2.1

Aug. 0.2

Sept. -1.5

Oct. 0.5

Nov. (est.) 1.6

Source: FactSet

BARGAIN-HUNTING DAY

Most major retailers close for Christmas, but they’ll be eager to open doors the next day.

The day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. U.S. retail sales rose at a modest pace in November as the holiday shopping season appeared to have a slow start. That modest start to the holiday shopping season has retailers hoping for an after-Christmas bounty Thursday.

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