This Week: Home sales, Costco earns, durable goods orders

The National Association of Realtors issues its August tally of previously occupied U.S. home sales Tuesday

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

WHITE HOT HOUSING MARKET

U.S. home sales have surged this summer, fueled by ultra-low mortgage rates and competition for a limited supply of properties.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes jumped by a record 24.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million homes. That was the second straight month of accelerating home purchases. Economists expect the trend continued last month. The National Association of Realtors issues its August home sales tally Tuesday.

Existing home sales, in millions, seasonally adjusted annual rate:

March 5.27

April 4.33

May 3.91

June 4.70

July 5.86

Aug. (est.) 5.95

Source: FactSet

SPOTLIGHT ON COSTCO

Wall Street expects that Costco Wholesale’s latest quarterly report card will show solid results.

Analysts predict the membership warehouse club will report Thursday that its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue increased from a year earlier. Costco has benefited from sharp sales growth, including online sales, this year. The company has already disclosed that sales in the July-August quarter were up by double digits from a year earlier.

MANUFACTURING BELLWETHER

The Commerce Department serves up its August snapshot of U.S. durable goods orders Friday.

Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods jumped 11.4% in July, the third consecutive gain after a steep two-month plunge. July’s strong advance was led by the volatile transportation sector. Excluding that category, orders would have risen by a more modest 2.4%. Economists project that durable goods orders rose only 1.5% last month.

Durable goods orders, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

March -16.7

April -18.3

May 15.0

June 7.7

July 11.4

Aug. (est.) 1.5

Source: FactSet