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Economy Title: Existing U.S. Home Sales Fall for Third Month March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of existing U.S. homes fell in February for a third month, indicating a lack of jobs is hindering government efforts to revive demand. Purchases dropped 0.6 percent to a 5.02 million annual rate, the lowest level in eight months and in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median price decreased 1.8 percent from February 2009. The extension and expansion of a federal tax credit that helped stabilize housing in 2009 has yet to spark sales this year as hiring hasn’t materialized. Home Depot Inc. is among companies cutting prices to stimulate demand as the world’s largest economy recovers from the worst recession since the 1930s. “It’s a fragile recovery, we are bouncing along the bottom,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates, in St. Petersburg, Florida, who forecast a 5 million sales pace. “We ultimately need to see job growth to get a sustainable rebound.” Stocks climbed after the report and Treasury securities dropped. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 1,168.47 at 10:31 a.m. in New York. Economists’ Forecasts Existing home sales were forecast to fall to a 5 million annual rate, according to the median estimate of 74 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Projections ranged from 4.75 million to 5.2 million, after an initially reported 5.05 million rate in January. Purchases of existing homes climbed 7.9 percent compared with a year earlier prior to adjusting for seasonal patterns. The median price decreased to $165,100 from $168,200 a year ago. The number of previously-owned homes on the market jumped 9.5 percent to 3.59 million. At the current sales pace, it would take 8.6 months to sell those houses compared with 7.8 months at the end of the prior month. The increase in supply last month was “unusual,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist, said in a news conference today. The jump may be caused by more distressed properties coming on the market and by trade-up buyers who are now putting their houses up for sale in advance of other purchases, he said. The share of homes sold to first-time buyers increased to 42 percent, from 40 percent in January, said Yun. Sales Breakdown The report showed sales of existing single-family homes decreased 1.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.37 million. Sales of condos and co-ops increased 4.8 percent to a 650,000 rate. Purchases dropped in two of four regions, led by a 4.7 percent decline in the West. A lack of inventory in the California market is restraining purchases in the West, Yun said. Sales fell 1.1 percent in the South, rose 2.4 percent in the Northeast and climbed 2.8 percent in the Midwest. Existing home sales, which account for more than 90 percent of the market, are compiled from contract closings and may reflect purchases agreed upon weeks or months earlier. Many economists consider new home sales, recorded when a contract is signed, a more timely barometer of the market. The Commerce Department may report tomorrow that new home sales rose last month after slumping in January to the lowest level since records began in 1963. Credit Extended The Obama administration in November extended a tax credit for first-time buyers due to expire at the end of that month and expanded it to include to some current owners. The extension covers closings through June as long as contracts are signed by the end of April. The boost from the credit will probably not be visible in the data until May or June, just before the incentive ends, said NAR’s Yun, citing the experience in the months just before the original November expiration. “We do need to get that second surge,” Yun said. It’s “clearly needed to absorb the inventory,” he said, and prevent further declines in prices. Executives at Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey’s largest homebuilder, said they are “keeping a close eye” on demand to gauge if it holds up after the incentive fades. “We too are interested to see if the positive momentum that we established can be sustained,” Chief Executive Officer Ara K. Hovnanian said on a conference call with investors on March 3. Other measures aimed at stabilizing housing will end even sooner. The Federal Reserve last week said its program to buy $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt, which was intended to lower borrowing costs, would conclude as planned at the end of this month. Mortgage Rates The evidence so far suggests the imminent dissolution of the program, which was credited with helping drive mortgage rates to record lows, isn’t influencing the market. The rate on a 30-year fixed loan was 4.96 percent in the week ended March 18, not far from the 4.71 percent reached on Dec. 3 that marked the lowest in Freddie Mac data going back to 1972. While borrowing costs are low and prices are down, sustained job gains remain the missing ingredient in promoting a rebound in housing. The unemployment rate, which reached a 26- year high of 10.1 percent in October, is projected to end the year at 9.5 percent, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg this month. Home Depot, the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, plans to cut prices on some plants and patio furniture in March and April to help meet its goal of increasing annual sales for the first time in five years. Executives said unemployment, housing foreclosures and credit restrictions are crimping sales. “We are looking to continue to drive our traffic in the stores,” Craig Menear, executive vice president of merchandising, said in a telephone interview last week from Atlanta, where Home Depot is based. “Things are still difficult out there for customers.”
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About the only "good" that I see in this number is that the first time home buyers data continues to trend upward...4 years ago they were barely 30%... other than that I stand by my previous observations as they trend towards validity...housing ias not going to experience or sustain enough of a recovery to keep the general economy trending from recovery to expansion...
Day 30 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 28 of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount? Jan 30, 2006 ... by saveliberty (Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot...
Given that we are literally bribing Americans to buy homes, this is a very bad number.
Goldi-Lox: You're one dumb-fucking bitch.
Tells you where the real consumer confidence is among those with an income that can afford a mortgage, no denying it.
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
Very bad? No...but it is indicative that we're going sideways in a hurry...
Day 30 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 28 of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount? Jan 30, 2006 ... by saveliberty (Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot...
Yep. Can't buy a $500,000 home on a a friggin Census job.
Goldi-Lox: You're one dumb-fucking bitch.
The median price decreased to $165,100 from $168,200 a year ago.
Day 30 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 28 of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount? Jan 30, 2006 ... by saveliberty (Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot...
A report from the Cypress Times says there is a 4% tax in the new healthcare law on the sale of your home to help finance it. If thats fact, golly gee, I wonder how that will impact housing... Remember, Owe-bama said no new taxes on the middle class. I guess he thinks the middle class doesn't own and sell their homes on a routine, daily basis, huh?
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
That's not what he said.
Day 31 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 29 of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount? Jan 30, 2006 ... by saveliberty (Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot...
Cypress Times...(absolutely roaring with laughter)
Day 31 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 29 of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount? Jan 30, 2006 ... by saveliberty (Proud to be Head Snowflake, Bushbot...
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