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发帖数: 2314 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 SanFrancisco 讨论区 】
发信人: sfca (Here we Goo^_^), 信区: SanFrancisco
标 题: New Home Sales Tumble to Record Low in January zz
关键字: home,house,unemployment,new home
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Wed Feb 24 12:15:32 2010, 美东)
Sales of new homes in the United States plunged 11.2 percent in January from
December to a historic low, the
government reported Wednesday in a fresh sign of weakness in the troubled
housing market.
Sales of new single-family houses fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate
of 309,000, from a revised
December rate of 348,000, the Commerce Department said.
The third consecutive month of declining sales surprised most analysts who
had expected sales to increase to
354,000.
The pace of new-home sales was the weakest in the official data series begun
in January 1963.
The decline was broad-based in January, typically a slow month in home sales
as winter weather grips much
of the country.
The January reading was 6.1 percent below the year-ago rate of 329,000 units
, which was the previous record
low.
"Sales of new homes are starting the year off on surprisingly weak footing,"
said Celia Chen at Moody's
Economy.com.
"The dismal performance of new-home sales indicates that the housing market
remains quite fragile, despite
efforts to shore up demand. The extension and expansion of the first-time
homebuyer tax credit have yet to
influence sales of new homes, but the positive impact will become evident in
the early spring."
The Moody's analyst noted that another wave of foreclosures was expected,
which would sharply curb
improvements in the housing market through the rest of the year.
Home prices continued to slump as consumers were sidelined by worries about
the strength of the economic
recovery from recession and high unemployment.
The median sales price of new houses -- the mid-point between the highest
and lowest prices, was 203,500
dollars in January, down from 215,600 dollars in December.
The average sales price was 254,500 dollars in January, down from 274,400
dollars.
The inventory glut of unsold homes on the market rose for the third month
running, to a seasonally adjusted
234,000.
At the current sales pace, it would take 9.1 months for the inventory to be
sold, the slowest rate since last
June. |
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