Here is a breakdown;

Sales fell 32.7% below the April 2010 and were off 18.3% below the May 2009.

• Median sales price decreased 9.6% from May 2009 to $200,900.

• Purchases dropped in all four U.S. regions last month.

• A record 53% sales drop occurred in the West.

• Supply of homes jumped to 8.5 month’s worth, up from 5.8 months in April.

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Source: Bloomberg Business Week. Kan Plans May Require $76 Billion Japan Tax Rise

“June 16 (Bloomberg) — Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan may have to raise taxes by as much as 7 trillion yen ($76 billion) to fulfill his pledge to cap bond sales in coming years, according to an independent adviser to the government.

Kan has committed to holding new bond sales to 44.3 trillion yen through the year to March 2012. At the same time, his administration is considering an annual public-spending limit of 71 trillion yen over the coming three years, according to two government officials familiar with the deliberations.”

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The FDIC seized 3 more banks, raising the totaled number of failed U.S banks in 2010 to 81. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair has said in the current banking crisis, failures will peak in 2010.

According to the FDIC bank failures from 2009 to 2013 is expected to cost $100 billion. Small(regional) banks are failing due to the loan losses from the credit boom. Many losses are result of the collapsed commercial real estate projects.

Brief Rundown;

Bank                                                                                     Assets                                   Deposits

BTierOne Bank (Nebraska)                                           $2.8 billion                       $2.2 billion
Arcola Homestead Savings Bank (Illinois)              $17.0 million                    $18.1 million
First National Bank (Mississippi)                              $60.4 million                   $63.5 million

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The job market will remain sluggish for 2010! Companies for the last two years have downsized to an efficient operating workforce, therefore without demand, hiring will remain flat.

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“In the week ending May 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 460,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 474,000. The 4-week moving average was 456,500, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 454,250.”

These figures are still high and continued job losses may still be on the horizon.

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Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, and are 22.8 percent higher than the 4.70 million-unit pace in April 2009.
…
Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 11.5 percent to 4.04 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.4-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an 8.1-month supply in March.

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“In the week ending May 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 451,000. The 4-week moving average was 458,500, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 463,250.”

The 4 week moving averaging of unemployment claims is near its lowest level since September 2008. However, that figure is still high and continued job losses may still be on the horizon.

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Nonfarm private employment increased 32,000 from March to April 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report. The estimated change in employment from February to March 2010 was revised up, from a decline of 23,000 to an increase of 19,000.

In addition, the revised estimate of the monthly change in employment from January to February 2010 shows a modest increase of 3,000. Thus, employment has increased for three straight months, albeit only modestly. The slow pace of improvement from February through April is consistent with the pause in the decline of initial unemployment claims that occurred during the winter months.
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April’s ADP Report estimates nonfarm private employment in the service-providing sector rose by 50,000, the third consecutive monthly increase. Employment in the goods-producing sector declined 18,000 during April. However, while construction employment dropped 49,000, manufacturing employment, in an encouraging sign, rose 29,000, the third consecutive monthly increase.

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