Property and Real Estate Solution

Swelling gasoline stocks and a far bigger than expected rise in U.S. unemployment drove oil markets down more than $2 Thursday to below $67 a barrel. In the latest signal the economy of the world’s biggest energy consumer was still struggling, data Thursday showed U.S. employers had cut 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate had risen to 9.5 percent. U.S. crude fell $2.45 to $66.86 a barrel by 1530 GMT. The contract settled 58 cents lower at $69.31 Wednesday. London Brent crude dropped $2.03 to $66.76. Some analysts are still relatively bullish, however, and say the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been very successful in stabilizing the market. (more…)

Prices of single-family homes declined in April from March in many areas, but the pace of the decline slowed, suggesting stability is emerging, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller home price indexes. The index of 20 metropolitan areas dipped 0.6% in April from March, after a 2.2% decline the month before; the overall index was down 18.1% from a year earlier. The rate of annual decline in these measures has improved, from 18.7% in March. April marked the third month the indexes didn’t set record price declines. Yearly losses in 13 metros improved compared to March. Still, the 20-city index is off almost 33% from its peak in the second quarter of 2006, and the 10-city index has dropped by almost 34%, which means home values are now around 2003-levels. Blitzer said that the stock market has risen from March and consumer confidence gauges have turned higher, fostering improved sentiment in housing.

China will delay a controversial policy to force manufacturers to install mandatory filtering software on all new computers, state news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s climbdown on the mandatory installation of the “Green Dam Youth Escort” filter comes just a day before the order was due to come into effect. The software was designed to block objectionable material including pornography, but the policy stoked opposition among industry groups, human rights organizations and foreign governments amid fears it could strengthen government efforts to censor politically sensitive information.

Japanese industrial output increased 5.9% in May compared with the month before, the third consecutive monthly climb, according to official data. The rise last month was the same as April’s revised figure, though less than analysts’ forecasts of 6.9%. The output of cars, mobile phones and electronic devices was particularly strong as firms started to reverse earlier cuts in stock levels. But analysts predict output could slow again, as the world downturn continues. Manufacturers predict industrial output to rise by a 3.1% in June and climb 0.9% in July. Japan, which is heavily depending on exports, entered a recession in the second quarter of 2008. Despite the recent rise, industrial output in May was about 30% lower than it was in the same month last year. And the growth predictions for the next two months would still put output at more than 20% lower year-on-year. The latest industrial output figures showed car production rose by 24.8% in May from the month before, and electronic parts production increased by 10.5%. Firms in both sectors had cut the number of shifts workers are doing in an attempt to lower inventory levels, but they are now beginning to reverse that trend. However, according to separate data from Japan’s Automobile Manufacturers Association, auto production in May was still down 41.4% from a year ago at 542,282 vehicles.