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August 28, 2008 2:34:15 AM CDT

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Pending Home Sales Take Giant Plunge

Posted Jan 8, 08 12:25 PM CST in Business 

(Newser) – Pending home sales fell 2.6% in November from a revised 3.7% October gain, Bloomberg reports, far outstripping the 0.7% fall analysts predicted after an originally reported 0.6% October gain. The figures support Henry Paulson’s gloomy outlook on the housing market. “There is no evidence it is bottoming,” the treasury secretary said today, reiterating his call for government help for all mortgage holders, not just subprime borrowers.

The index is down 19% on the year and will fall further, analysts predict. “There’s more bad news to come in housing before it gets better,” said one economist. KB Home, the fifth-largest homebuilder in the US, reported big fourth-quarter losses today as record foreclosures continued to flood the market with homes; there was a 10.3-month supply in November.

Source Bloomberg

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An overgrown sign sits on the lawn of an old house for sale in Newtown, Penn., in this May 30, 2007 file photo. Reflecting further housing troubles, sales of existing homes fell in May to the lowest...   (Associated Press)
Daniel Peart stands next to a "for sale" sign in front of his home in Poway, Calif., in this March 22, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)   (Associated Press)
John Malone, from Mountain View, Calif., looks at a flyer of one of the townhouses that is for sale in San Jose, Calif., in this Oct. 6, 2007 file photo. U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th...   (Associated Press)
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housing crisis  • Henry Paulson  • borrowers  • home resales


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