23.07.201403:46:19UTC+00US housing rebounds amidst slower rise in cost of living

US housing rebounds amidst slower rise in cost of living

Latest data shows that the increase in consumer prices in the US slowed down last month to indicate minimal price pressure despite growth picking up in the country’s economy.

The US Labor Department released today figures that showed a 0.3% gain in its consumer price index in June to record a slower pace than the 0.4% of the previous month. Analysts polled by Bloomberg predicted a change in the same range which ended up going according to the inflationary expectations of the Federal Reserve. For a duration of 12 months ending in June, the increase in consumer prices was the same in May at 2.1%.

Meanwhile, existing houses being sold climbed to an annual rate of 5.04 million for a 2.6% improvement according to the National Association of Realtors. The rate exceeded market expectations and may provide a boost for the economy in the last half of 2014. Properties on the market went to its highest number in two years to help limit median prices to a more than two year low gain.

The world’s largest economy is forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg to have grown by 3.3% in the last quarter.

Economist Laura Rosner from BNP Paribas in New York says that “The economy and the recovery remain on track, neither too hot nor too cold,” which can let the US central bank “continue with accommodative policy and let the labor market continue to heal.” The updated figures provided support for Fed chair Janet Yellen’s claim of heightened inflation being only temporary as well as opening the way for the central bank to maintain current interest rates until 2015.