给小美人的日記簿 can you find it? when will you find it.... our serendipity

52愛的鼓勵 0訂閱站台

看起來似乎美國房市仍將持續滑落, 經濟可能會進入 recession.
我要開始學習了解美國的房市, preferrably in west coast.
如果我認為有好的 opportunity, 我會讓妳知道

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Sales Fall Again for Existing Homes
Slump May Worsen In Coming Months

By Dina ElBoghdady and Tomoeh Murakami Tse
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 28, 2007; Page D01


Sales of existing U.S. homes fell in July for the fifth consecutive month, prices continued to erode and the supply of single-family homes rose to a 16-year high by one key measure, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The housing figures, released yesterday, showed that sales of previously owned single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and cooperatives were down 9 percent from a year ago. Sales fell 0.2 percent from June, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million.


The sign stands outside an unsold new home in the east Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo., on Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007. The Commerce Department reported Friday that new-home sales rose 2.8 percent in July, after falling 4 percent in June. The increase in July lifted sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 870,000 units. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski - AP)


Stock markets reacted mildly yesterday to the news, dipping slightly even though the home-sales report beat Wall Street expectations.

The Realtors association attributed the sales decline to mortgage disruptions that have kept some potential buyers on the sidelines and left others in the lurch as several mortgage companies shut down, yanked away the loans they approved or altered the terms of those loans.

The July figures do not reflect the deepening credit crunch that rocked global financial markets this month, making it more difficult to borrow money. Data released last week that showed a rise in sales of new homes was skewed for the same reason, said experts who track the industry.

"I don’t take solace in any of the July numbers because they were put to bed before the market froze in August," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com. "We have to wait until September or October to fully understand the scope of the fallout."

Sales of new homes, which rose 2.8 percent in July, are viewed as more timely because they reflect signed contracts, even though they are drawn from a small sample of sales and do not take contract cancellations into account.

The report on existing homes is thought to be more comprehensive because existing homes make up 85 percent of the housing market. The report is considered a lagging indicator because it captures closed transactions negotiated mostly in May and June.

"We all have to brace ourselves for tougher news ahead based on what’s going on in the mortgage market," said Michael Larson, an analyst at Weiss Research.

Most alarming is the excess supply of homes on the market, Larson said. If no more single-family houses were added to the inventory, it would take 9.2 months to sell off the current stock at the current sales pace, yesterday’s report said. Inventory now is at its highest level in relation to sales since 1991. Add previously owned condos, townhomes and co-ops to the mix, and the inventory rises to a 9.6-month supply. The supply of existing condos rose by 20 percent in July.

The glut of homes contributed to a 0.6 percent decline in prices. The median home price in July was $228,900, meaning half the homes sold for more and half for less. Larson expects the prices to fall even more in coming months.

From a home seller’s perspective, that might mean more bad news, said Nigel Gault, an economist at the research firm Global Insight. Like many analysts, Gault anticipates more foreclosed properties coming on to the market in the months ahead.

"If you’re a seller, you’re going to be competing with all these extra homes already on the market and you’ll be competing with banks that repossessed homes and might be willing to settle for a lower price," Gault said.

Heading into the Labor Day weekend, traders had little news to mull over except for yesterday’s housing numbers, but they reacted mildly to the dip in sales.

The numbers "clearly showed that we’re not even close to being out of the woods in terms of weakness in housing," said Les Satlow, portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 56.74, to 13,322.13. The Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index fell 12.58, to 1466.79. The Nasdaq composite index fell 15.44, to 2561.25.