Home Sales, Prices Plunge

Median US price was $175,400 in December, off 15.3%

(NEWSER) - US home prices took an unprecedented dive in December, Bloomberg reports, with prices of existing units dropping 15.3% over the same month last year—the biggest drop on record, and probably the biggest since the Great Depression. Sales, however, unexpectedly ticked up 6.5% in December, the National Association of Realtors announced. “I don’t think it’s a clear sign of a revival in the housing market,” one analyst said. More»

Inventories still at historic highs

(AP) - Sales of existing US homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in last month, a real estate trade group said today. The data offer a glimmer of hope that the housing slump could be starting to bottom out. The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose by 5.5% in September compared to August. More»

Sales pace falls way short of 330K expected

(AP) - Sales of new US homes dropped sharply last month to the slowest pace on record, the latest sign that the economic recovery is fading. The Commerce Department says new home sales fell 12.4% in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,600. That was the slowest pace on records dating back to 1963. More»

Largest drop since records began in 1968

(AP) - Sales of previously occupied US homes fell to the lowest level in 15 years last month as the economy weakened. The National Association of Realtors says July's sales fell by more than 27% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million. It is the largest monthly drop noted since recording began in 1968. June's sales pace was revised downward to 5.26 million. More»

(NEWSER) - New home sales jumped 11% in June, the biggest gain in eight years, the Commerce Department announced today, as the supply fell to its lowest level in more than a decade. With mortgage rates and prices staggeringly low—the median home price fell 12%—buyers came out of the woodwork. Sales increased to a 384,000 annual pace, topping estimates, which had ranged from 335,000 to 377,000, Bloomberg reports. More»