{"id":1004101334,"date":"2014-07-29T06:01:52","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T14:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004101334"},"modified":"2022-12-08T20:54:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T04:54:29","slug":"economy-watch-pending-home-sales-edge-down-social-security-medicare-solvent-until-30s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-pending-home-sales-edge-down-social-security-medicare-solvent-until-30s\/","title":{"rendered":"Economy Watch: Pending Home Sales Edge Down; Social Security, Medicare Solvent Until \u201930s"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

The National Association of Realtors reported on Monday that its Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts inked but not closed, declined 1.1 percent to 102.7 in June from 103.8 in May, and is 7.3 percent below June 2013 (when it was 110.8). Despite June\u2019s decrease, the index is still above 100 \u2013 an average level of contract activity, according to the Realtors \u2013 for the second consecutive month after failing to reach the mark since last November.<\/p>\n

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says that activity is notably higher than earlier this year as prices have moderated and inventory levels improved. \u201cHowever, supply shortages still exist in parts of the country, wages are flat, and tight credit conditions are deterring a higher number of potential buyers from taking advantage of lower interest rates,\u201d he noted in a statement.<\/p>\n

Yun forecasts existing-homes sales to be down 2.8 percent this year to 4.95 million units, compared to 5.1 million existing home sales in 2013. The national median existing-home price is projected to grow between 5 percent and 6 percent this year and in 2015, he added.<\/p>\n

Social Security, Medicare Solvent Until \u201930s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The trustees of Social Security and Medicare said on Monday that if Congress makes no change in existing law \u2013 seldom a safe bet — Medicare\u2019s hospital insurance trust fund will be exhausted by 2030, four years later than projected last year. The Social Security trust fund, they also reported, will be depleted by 2033, the same as predicted last year. Together the programs account for about 40 percent of federal spending.<\/p>\n

Medicare\u2019s financial health has benefited from a slowdown in national health spending, according to the trustees, which they attributed in part to the impact of the Affordable Care Act. The trustees also cited slow growth of wages and prices in the wake of the Great Recession as a factor slowing down the growth of Medicare.<\/p>\n

As for Social Security, the trustees\u2019 report noted that the program\u2019s trust fund ran a surplus of $32 billion last year and is on track to run another one this year, increasing its total reserves to nearly $2.8 trillion by the end of 2014. The trust fund\u2019s assets will start declining rapidly about a decade from now, however. The annual reports issued the trustees \u2014 four federal officials and two public representatives \u2014 are prepared by career civil servants for the most part.<\/p>\n

Wall Street ended the day mixed on Monday, but in fact barely moved, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 22.02 points, or 0.13 percent and the S&P 500 eking out a 0.03 percent gain. The Nasdaq lost 0.1 percent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index declined 1.1 percent in June compared to May. It is predicted that if Congress makes no change in existing law, Medicare\u2019s hospital insurance trust fund will be exhausted by 2030, four years later than projected last year. And Social Security would be depleted three years later, as predicted earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004101334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEconomy Watch: Pending Home Sales Edge Down; Social Security, Medicare Solvent Until \u201930s - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/economy-watch-pending-home-sales-edge-down-social-security-medicare-solvent-until-30s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Economy Watch: Pending Home Sales Edge Down; Social Security, Medicare Solvent Until \u201930s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NAR's Pending Home Sales Index declined 1.1 percent in June compared to May. 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