Housing

The National Association of Home Builders' housing market index climbed to 68 in October from 64 in September.

Pending home sales declined 2.5% to an index reading of 106.3 in August.

The pace of new single-family home sales fell by 3.4% to 560,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in August.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes decreased, the National Association of Home Builders said.

Pending home sales decreased 0.8% to an index reading of 109.1 in July, after a downwardly revised 1.3% gain to a 110.0 reading in June, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

The State Bond Commission Thursday gave authority to start seeking loans on the second phase of a massive LSU project that includes a mixed-use development on Nicholson Drive and tearing down 52-year-old Kirby Smith Hall dormitory.

The pace of housing starts rose by 8.3% to a 1.215 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in June, well above expectations for a rebound to a 1.150 million pace, data reported by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning showed.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes slipped as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index fell to 64 in July from a downwardly revised 66 in June.

Wells Fargo Securities hired four public finance veterans for key roles in its government and institutional banking group as it expands its housing and higher education teams.

Existing home sales gained 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted 5.62 million-unit rate in May from a revised 2.5% decline to a 5.56 million sales pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday.