Existing home sales fell last month

WASHINGTON – Sales of previously occupied homes fell in December for the first time in four months as many would-be buyers were frustrated by a lack of available houses, which fell to the lowest level in more than two decades.

Existing home sales dropped 4.6% last month from November, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 6.2 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

The demand for homes remains healthy, the group said, with median prices jumping nearly 16% from a year ago to $358,000.

Homes sold in an average of 19 days, slightly higher than in the summer but still quite rapid.

Yet the number of houses for sale slumped to just 910,000 in December, the fewest since records began in 1999.

The inventory of homes for sale has fallen 40% from pre-pandemic levels, Donaldson said.

Even with the December decline, it has been a healthy year for home sales.

Annual sales reached 6.1 million in 2021, the National Association of Realtors said, up 8.5% from 2020 and the most since 2006, the height of the housing bubble that crashed the following year.

Union Pacific nets 24% profit

OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific hauled in 24% more profit in the fourth quarter despite supply chain problems and weak auto production, but that is also compared with a period last year that included a one-time $278 million charge.

The Omaha, Nebraska, railroad on Thursday posted earnings of $1.71 billion, or $2.66 per share, in the last three months of 2021.

That’s up from $1.38 billion, or $2.05 per share, a year earlier.

Without last year’s charge, the railroad’s profit would have been up 8% over the 2020 quarter’s adjusted results of $1.6 billion, or $2.36 per share.

Union Pacific hauled 4% less freight in the fourth quarter as the computer chip shortage continued to hurt auto production and supply chain problems cribbed shipments of imported containers of goods.

From wire reports

The railroad also wrestled with crew shortages as COVID-19 spread through its workforce.

But the results exceeded Wall Street expectations of $2.60 per share, according to a survey by the data company Zacks Investment Research.