Watch out: Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is warning the state’s motorists to be cautious of buying used cars that could have been flooded in neighboring Texas by Tropical Storm Imelda. Consumers should look for signs of water damage in used vehicles they want to buy. Among the telltale signs: stains, mildew, rust, mismatched carpet and dirt under seats, he says. Imelda’s remnants dumped more than 40 inches of rain in parts of Texas after the storm made landfall Sept. 17. Read the full warning.
Real estate: U.S. home sales fell 2.2% in September, as rising home prices and lower inventories have stifled homebuyers. The National Association of Realtors said this morning that homes sold last month declined at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.38 million units, ending two months of sales gains. Existing-home sales are up 3.9% from a year ago, but September’s stumble shows the limits of the boost that declining mortgage rates had been providing. Read the full report.
Road safety: The U.S. government’s road safety agency says traffic deaths fell by a small amount for the second straight year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration attributed the 2.4% drop, in part, to technology in newer vehicles that can prevent crashes. A total of 36,560 people died on the nation’s roads in 2018, the latest full-year statistics available. The agency says the downward trend is continuing into 2019. First-half estimates show fatalities down 3.4%. Read the full report.
