(From NakedCapitalism.com)
The latest housing news is not pretty. The decline, however, was only slightly below the expected annualized level of 4.94 million units. From Bloomberg:
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in June to the lowest level in a decade, signaling tumbling real-estate prices and consumer confidence are hurting demand.
Resales dropped 2.6 percent to a lower than forecast 4.86 million annual rate from a 4.99 million pace the prior month, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median home price dropped 6.1 percent from June last year…
“People are waiting until prices hit bottom, and credit is still difficult to obtain,” Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “We expect to see home sales fall further.”
In its report on the news release, the Wall Street Journal included these cheery tidbits:
Existing-home sales resumed falling in June and the median price also dropped as inventories crept higher.
Separately, The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits soared last week, matching a three-year high, suggesting no stabilization in sight for labor markets.
Home resales slid to a 4.86 million annual rate, a 2.6% decrease from May’s unrevised 4.99 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The median home price was $215,100 in June, down 6.1% from $229,000 in June 2007. The median price in May this year was $207,900.
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