▶ TTT-Team: Donnerstag, 27.09.2007

Text zur Anzeige gekürzt. Gesamten Beitrag anzeigen »

New-home sales plunge 8.3% to seven-year low


- Sales of new homes dropped 8.3% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000, the slowest sales since June 2000, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday.

Sales are now down 21.2% in the past year, with no sign of a bottom in the crippled housing market.

August's sales pace was weaker than the 825,000 expected by economist surveyed by MarketWatch. In addition, sales in May, June and July were revised down.

The sales figures do not account for canceled sales contracts.

The median sales price fell 7.5% to $225,700 in August compared with a year earlier, the largest year-over-year decline in 37 years. The median price can be affected by the mix of homes sold between and within regions, and the price does not include nonmonetary incentives, such as upgrades, free vacations and new cars.

The inventory of unsold homes fell by 1.5% to 529,000, the fifth straight decline as builders struggle to bring their inventories down. The inventory represents an 8.2-month supply at the August sales pace, the highest since March.

The number of completed homes that have not yet sold rose 1.1% to 180,000, the first increase since May.

On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes fell to a five-year low in August, while inventories jumped to an 18-year high. See full story.

The data cover activity through the end of August, after the severe credit squeeze forced additional mortgage lenders out of business and made nonconforming mortgages, including jumbo mortgages, harder to obtain.

Text zur Anzeige gekürzt. Gesamten Beitrag anzeigen »

709335">