Moments Ago
In June, new home sales jumped 55% annually
The month of June saw a 55% jump annually in sales of newly built homes, according to a survey by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. This marks the largest annual gain since the housing boom more than a decade ago, CNBC’s Diana Olick reports.
The coronavirus’ impact on new housing demand is thought to play a role in the jump, as the supply of existing homes declines and residents prefer new, high-tech homes for easy work from home potential. Many buyers are also fleeing to the suburbs and away from large cities.
“The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Sales in the distant commuter areas are the most robust,” said John Burns, founder and CEO of JBRC. “I believe a lot of computer-oriented people have proven to their co-workers that they can be productive from home, and have sensed, or officially been given the green light, to work from home at least a significant portion of the time after a vaccine has been found.”
New home sales were greatest in the Northeast, with an 86% annual jump, and in Florida, which saw an 84% increase, while California lagged behind, the survey found. –Suzanne Blake
33 Min Ago
‘Too many countries are headed in the wrong direction,’ WHO warns
Executive Director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergencies program Mike Ryan speaks at a news conference on the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Denis Balibouse | Reuters
The World Health Organization warned that too many countries are headed in the “wrong direction” as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across the globe.
The comment by the WHO came after the U.S. and Brazil reported 111,319 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, accounting for roughly half of all the new cases reported worldwide. As of Sunday, U.S. cases are growing by 5% or more in 37 states and also Washington D.C.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the agency’s top official, criticized some countries’ responses to the virus, saying their actions haven’t matched the seriousness of the pandemic.
“The only aim of the virus is to find people to infect. Mixed messages from leaders are undermining the most critical ingredient of any response: Trust,” he said during a press conference. The virus “is going to get worse and worse and worse but it doesn’t have to be this way.” –Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
55 Min Ago
Hong Kong Disneyland to shutter again on July 15
Disneyland Hong Kong.
Getty Images
Disney‘s theme park in Hong Kong will close temporarily on Wednesday after the island reported a spike in coronavirus cases.
Hong Kong Disneyland reopened less than a month ago after closing down in January during the first surge of Covid-19 cases in the region.
The local government has limited group gatherings to four people, from 50, and forced 12 different kinds of businesses, including gyms and gaming centers, to shutdown for a week.
The news of the park’s closure comes as Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom reopened in Orlando, Florida on Saturday. —Sarah Whitten
1 Hour Ago
U.S. students more vulnerable than kids elsewhere, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says
Children in the U.S. are more likely to become severely sick and die from Covid-19 than kids in other countries because the U.S. has a comparatively unhealthy population, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said.
“We have more co-morbid illness among young people in this country, more asthma, more obesity, more diabetes, so there is going to be higher risk with our school-age population,” Gottlieb said on “Squawk Box.”
President Donald Trump vowed last week to pressure governors into reopening schools even as the U.S. outbreak continues to balloon, especially in a number of hot-spot states across the South and West. —Will Feuer
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic-testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”
1 Hour Ago
Sen. Marco Rubio says the costs of not reopening schools in Florida are ‘extraordinary’
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Michael Brochstein | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images
2 Hours Ago
Quest Diagnostics posts better-than-expected revenue on rising demand for testing
People volunteer for Covid-19 surveillance testing using the Quest Diagnostics self administered PCR test in Livingston, Montana.
William Campbell | Getty Images
Quest Diagnostics reported preliminary revenue for the second quarter above analysts’ estimates, pushing shares up 2.7% before the bell on growing demand for Covid-19 testing. The company’s revenue fell 6% to $1.83 billion, but was still above estimates of $1.52 billion, according to the company.
After more than a 40% decline in testing during the last two weeks of March, the company began seeing a rise in testing volume at a faster-than-expected rate. Quest is expected to report second-quarter results on July 23, according to Reuters. –Alex Harring
3 Hours Ago
Yelp to bring back furloughed employees
Yelp will bring back “nearly all” of its 1,100 furloughed employees next month, and will restore employee pay and work hours.
The company in April laid of 1,000 employees and furloughed roughly 1,100 more, as the Covid-19 pandemic kept people across the nation home.
“As local economies begin their recovery, we remain cautious but optimistic in the face of continued uncertainty,” Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman wrote in an email to employees that was shared with CNBC.
Coronavirus cases continue to spike in some areas across the nation, and Yelp will extend its office closures into 2021. The company said that will result in a layoff of 63 more employees. —Jessica Bursztynsky
4 Hours Ago
Pepsi sales fall amid virus shutdowns
PepsiCo‘s net sales fell more than 3% in the most recent quarter as the coronavirus kept consumers away from restaurants, convenience stores and sporting events, the company announced in its quarterly report.
The company’s North American beverage division reported a 7% drop in organic revenue, which strips out the impact of foreign currency, acquisitions and divestitures. Pepsi’s packaged food units, by contrast, saw increased sales as Americans stayed home. Quaker Foods North America reported organic revenue growth of 23%, and Frito-Lay North America reported organic sales growth of 6%.
Read more on the quarterly update from CNBC’s Amelia Lucas. —Sara Salinas
5 Hours Ago
Pfizer, BioNTech’s vaccine candidates get FDA ‘fast track’
German biotech firm BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced that two of their vaccine candidates were granted “fast track” status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The companies said in a statement that the designation was based on preliminary data from the candidates’ phases one and two trials, which are still ongoing. On July 1, the companies released early data on the trials.
“We look forward to continue working closely with the FDA throughout the clinical development of this program, Project Lightspeed, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these vaccine candidates,” Peter Honig, Pfizer’s senior vice president of global regulatory affair, said in a statement.
The companies said they expect to start late-stage clinical trials that will involve up to 30,000 participants as soon as later this month. —Will Feuer
5 Hours Ago
Germany can prevent a second wave, health minister insists
Citizens walk at the pedestrian zone in Guetersloh, western Germany.
Ina Fassbender | AFP | Getty Images
Germany can prevent a second wave of the coronavirus later this year if people remain vigilant, the country’s health minister said, warning German holidaymakers not to be complacent over the risks.
“We have to try particularly now in the holiday season to prevent infections,” Jens Spahn told a news conference Monday, Reuters reported. “We don’t automatically have to expect a second wave in the autumn and winter. Together, as a society, we can prevent that, as we did once before: breaking the wave and keeping the pandemic in check.”
Spahn said it was important to remain alert when traveling abroad and that he was worried by pictures showing holidaymakers ignoring social distancing rules. —Holly Ellyatt
Read CNBC’s previous coronavirus live coverage here: Record single-day spike in cases; Gottlieb says 1 in 150 Americans are infected
