Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


 ECONOMY 
0

March Home Sales, Prices Fall

Buyers can't get loans, or are awaiting bigger price drops

Share

(Newser) – Prices on existing homes fell in March, but buyers stayed away, either unable to get loans, or betting on yet bigger drops, Bloomberg reports. Sales dropped 2%, to an annual rate of 4.93 million, as the median price fell to $200,700 from $217,400 last year. The number of available homes meanwhile swelled by 40,000, exacerbating supply problems.

"There still is an imbalance in the existing housing market that needs to be corrected through lower inventories and higher sales," said one Lehman Brothers economist. "As long as the housing market remains weak we think the economy will remain weak as well."

Home for sale signs line a street of a new subdivision in Cascade Locks, Ore., Wednesday, April 9, 2008.
Home for sale signs line a street of a new subdivision in Cascade Locks, Ore., Wednesday, April 9, 2008.   (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
A house for sale at a reduced price is seen in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday, March 25, 2008. Home prices in many cities continued to plunge by record levels in January as sellers cut their asking bids and rising foreclosures took their toll, new data showed Tuesday.
A house for sale at a reduced price is seen in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday, March 25, 2008. Home prices in many cities continued to plunge by record levels in January as sellers cut their asking bids and rising...   (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
A sign noting a reduction in price tops the sale placard outside an existing home on the market in south Denver in this Feb. 17, 2008 file photo.
A sign noting a reduction in price tops the sale placard outside an existing home on the market in south Denver in this Feb. 17, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

100 Stories

 Home Prices Climb in August 

Nearly every major city gets a boost

Oct 27, 09 9:03 AM CDT
(AP) - US home prices rose for the third straight month in August, data released today showed, a key sign for a broad and sustained housing recovery. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities climbed 1% from July to a seasonally adjusted reading of 144.5. While prices are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
real estate • housing market • home prices • Case Shiller price index

 Home Prices Rise for 3rd Month 

Case-Shiller index shows modest 1.6% increase in June

Sep 29, 09 8:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - In another sign the housing market is stabilizing, home prices climbed 1.6% in July, the third consecutive month they have risen, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price index of 20 major cities. Though they're down 13.3% compared with this time last year, the year-over-year declines still beat... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing market • home prices • Case Shiller price index

(Newser) - Nearly half of US homeowners will owe more than their house is worth by 2011, Deutsche Bank analysts said yesterday, predicting that the number of such “underwater” mortgages would nearly double from today’s 26% to 48%. Their report stated that home prices will fall another 14% between now... More »

MORE ABOUT:
housing market • foreclosure • mortgage • home prices • underwater mortgage

100 Stories


Scenes from the mortgage mess
Wall Street Journal Subscription

Why foreclosure fix may not work
CNNMoney


Business 
TwitterFollow @NewserBusiness on Twitter

 
housing market • home prices • housing crisis • existing home sales • economy

from our news partners