Thursday, March 24, 2011

Rough News from the Housing Market

The news from the housing market continues to be dismal, as the latest report on new-home sales shows. One thing that's confounding about this is that the experts keep expecting the housing sector to pull out of its slump. As it usually does, Bloomberg surveyed a panel of housing experts on their expectations for new-home purchases in February, and their consensus was that the number would come in an annual rate of 290,000. Instead, the number plunged to 250,000 - a decrease of 16.9 percent. That's the slowest rate of new-home sales on record.

The other figures were just as discouraging:

* The median new-home price has fallen 8.9 percent in the past 12 months.
* Previously owned home purchases also dropped by 9.6 percent in February.
* The median home price is at a nine-year low.
* Prices of new homes are at their lowest level since December 2003.

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