Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

August 30, 2008 8:56:09 AM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

New Home Sales Hit 12-Year Low

Posted Dec 28, 07 11:00 AM CST in Business 

(Newser) – New home sales fell much farther than expected in November, hitting their lowest point since 1995, Bloomberg reports, and the slide only likely to get worse. Sales fell to an annual pace of 647,000, a 9% drop from October’s revised-down 711,000 rate. Prices are falling, but buyers either aren’t interested or can’t get loans because of tighter credit conditions.

Though home inventories fell 1.8% to a 2-year low, demand fell even further. At these prices, there’s a 9.3-month supply, up from October’s 8.8. New home sales are down 34% for the year and figure to keep falling throughout ’08. “It will be a difficult year,” said one homebuilder CEO, who plans to “pare down inventories in virtually all our markets.”

Source Bloomberg

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • Home Prices Fall Again; Rate of Decline Sets Record

    Jul 29, 08 11:01 AM CDT
    Home Prices Fall Again; Rate of Decline Sets Record Home prices continued to nosedive in May, a signal that the housing crisis may be worsening and a red flag for the credit markets and Wall Street, reports the New York Times. Every region covered by the S&P/Case-Schiller home-price index showed a drop compared to May 2007, with the rate of decline setting a record for the 21-year-old metric.
    More »

  • Rise in Renters Wiping Out Gains in Homeownership

    Jun 21, 08 7:29 AM CDT
    Rise in Renters Wiping Out Gains in Homeownership Americans are shifting from being homeowners to renters in rising numbers, the New York Times reports, all but wiping out gains made during the boom. The percentage of homes headed by homeowners dropped from 69.1% to 67.8% this year, which sounds modest, but is, in fact, the biggest decline in 20 years. President Bush's ambitious "ownership society" plan hoped to see more low-income and minority families own their own homes, but these groups have been hardest hit by the subprime crisis. More »

  • Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic

    Apr 9, 08 10:58 AM CDT
    Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic UK home prices tumbled 2.5% in February—the largest fall since the 1990s—as the International Monetary Fund warned that Britain could face a housing crisis similar to the US. British PM Gordon Brown insisted yesterday the decline was containable, but the Bank of England is now under serious pressure to cut interest rates at its meeting tomorrow, the Times of London reports. More »

  • Crisis Is More of Confidence Than Credit

    Mar 19, 08 11:39 AM CDT
    Crisis Is More of Confidence Than Credit The credit crisis that’s roiled financial markets has its genesis in the housing boom that began in 1998, David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times. The boom led lenders to create new financing options—including subprime loans—as investors saw potential for huge returns. Low interest rates encouraged investors, and homeowners, to stretch themselves too thin—and the seeds of crisis were planted. More »

  • Paulson Calls for More Housing Relief

    Jan 7, 08 9:17 PM CST
    Paulson Calls for More Housing Relief Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson advised the mortgage industry today to give help to millions of financially stressed homeowners whose mortgages are set to rise. His comments signal that the Bush administration is starting to push lenders to expand relief beyond subprime borrowers to homeowners with other adjustable-rate loans, reports the Wall Street Journal. More »

Homes are offered for sale in the Fair Oaks Ranch development in Santa Clarita, Calif., in this March 14, 2007, file photo. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)   (Associated Press)
An overgrown sign sits on the lawn of an old house for sale in Newtown, Penn., in this May 30, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, file)   (Associated Press)
Construction worker Jorge Ruiz works on a new D.R. Horton home in Fort Worth, Texas in this July 24, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)   (Associated Press)
A newly constructed home in Walpole, Mass is seen Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)   (Associated Press)
Construction workers frame a new house in Gilbert, Ariz. in this Aug. 31, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Matt York, file)   (Associated Press)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (1 of 2)

Tags

subprime mortgages  • credit crisis  • housing market  • housing crisis  • home loans  • home sales


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular


Other Business Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »