Sales of existing homes fall in ’14
Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell last year for the first time since 2010, despite several factors that typically help the market, including low mortgage rates.
For all of 2014, existing home sales dipped to 4.93 million sales, a 3.1 percent decline from 2013, the National Association of Realtors reported.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the drop in sales last year was “mildly disappointing,” but said he expects sales to rebound this year.
Dow drops first time this week
A batch of mixed earnings reports yesterday helped push the stock market to its first day of losses this week.
Shares of tissue and diaper maker Kimberly-Clark dropped after the company’s earnings fell short of expectations and it gave a disappointing outlook. Package-delivery service UPS plunged after it cut its earnings forecast.
Anheuser buys Seattle brewer
Anheuser-Busch is buying Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Co., expanding further its collection of craft brewers. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, a Belgian company that is the world’s largest brewer. The company, which makes Budweiser and Bud Light, has been combating soft sales by buying up increasingly popular craft brewers.
- Agero Inc., a Medford-based provider of vehicle and driver safety, security and information services, has announced the appointment of Cathy Orrico as senior vice president of client services.
