First-time buyers down: Fewer people purchased previously occupied homes in May, lowering sales to their weakest point of the year. Home sales sank 3.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million homes, the National Association of Realtors says. Economists say that’s far below the rate of 6 million homes per year sold in healthy housing markets. Since the housing boom went bust in 2006, sales have fallen in four of the past five years. Analysts say they expect sales to level off at about 5 million per year. That’s slightly better than the 4.91 million homes sold last year, the worst showing in 13 years. The housing market has struggled because fewer first-time buyers are entering the market. The number of first-timers ticked down to 35% of sales last month. Typically, they drive half of sales in healthy markets.
Former Utah governor joins GOP field: Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says he will run a campaign that is based on who would be a better president, not who is a better American. Huntsman today formally entered the Republican presidential primary with the Statue of Liberty behind him. He says the United States’ economy is “totally unacceptable and it is totally un-American” and says he has the ideas to turn around the country. Huntsman, who until this spring served as President Barack Obama’s ambassador to China, says he has the global experience to restore America’s prestige. He also says that this generation could be the first in history to pass down a country that isn’t as competitive as the last.
