Tuesday, September 25, 2007
US house sales at 5-year low
Home Sales continue downwards
Housing markets continued to slump across the nation in August. The number of homes sold dropped for the sixth straight month to their lowest level in five years, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 4.3% from last month and 12.6% from last year. The slump pushed the glut of existing inventory to an all time high However NAR said median prices were stable. "Sellers are not being realistic about selling prices. Owners are still holding out for their asking prices.That explains the contradictory trend of fairly stable prices but sharply lower sales numbers. Prices will have to drop to clear the 10-month backlog of unsold inventory."
Posted by little professor @ 10:43 PM (1149 views)
9 thoughts on “US house sales at 5-year low”
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little professor says:
In other news, the number 1 US homebuilder, Lennar, posted record losses of $531million
This was in the face of a 48% drop in new orders for homes.
It warned of job losses and other cuts.
autopilotengage says:
Morning HPC’ers. I’ve been reading this site religiously for a good 5 years now and i’m a big fan of the debate which goes on here. I post only when i feel i have something useful to contribute (which doesn’t turn out to be that often!). There has been the rough times when it seemed this was the only drum being banged. I feel slightly guilty when what looks to others like decidedly lean times ahead to us is this site’s vindication to those whom have chosen to ridicule us as doom-mongers. In fact this site has been one of the few sources of honest analysis of the “other side” of the debate (paralells to “1984” which are frequently drawn here ring painfully true to me). It’s difficult sometimes when i am forced kicking and screaming to a “dinner party” and the topic turns to house prices. People are generally not willing to risk stemming the flow of the wine to proclaim i am some sort of delusional heretic but i’m sure that’s what they are thinking (make that a paranoid delusional heretic then!).
2007 is already proving to be a very, very, interesting year.
Come back “japenese uncle”, “uncle tom” and “uncle chris”!
richc says:
Prices are “stable” because the NAR numbers are the median sale price and the bottom end of the market has collapsed with the sub-prime crisis. If you take a lot of cheaper houses out of the mix, then even though all house prices are falling, the median will rise or stay the same.
Si says:
Round here they seem to be being pretty stubborn about moving the house prices from what is basically an all time high (like they expeted the 2% monthly rise to have continues the last 2 months!) There are over 1100 properties on sale for <£160k, all [email protected] 1-2 bedroom flats. In a year or so I might buy my first house!
japanese uncle says:
May I mention what I and other bloggers predicted for the past couple of years proved right almost to the letter, including the scenario of IR increase on the pretext of inflation triggered by coordinated crude price hike, pricking the housing/credit bubble, leading to subsequent severe credit crunch, potentially causing ‘run’ on some banks (along with the discussion about the UK financial compensation scheme), let alone the danger of fiancial markets inundated by overwhelming derivatives transaction.
But the truth is, it is not that the discussion on this website was particularly well informed, but HPC was candidly vocal, simply.
All those financial wizards in the central banks, investment banks, hedge funds, especially those who devised the ‘financial weapons of mass destruction’ called CDO incorporating sub-prime risks, must have been well aware of what lies ahead. There is no doubt about that. Those self-appointed masters of universe are certainly well-read, highly informed people who could well have precisely predicted the shut down of the interbank market to be caused by the loss of confidence over the distribution of ‘sliced and diced’ poison of financial risks, that triggers financial meltdown on a global scale. This might better be called a financial terrorism.
Forget K-cycle, or any other seemingly plausible theories of economic cycle. They are simply manipulated by the credit creation and money supply, and partially by the IR. No wonder FRB stopped releasing M3 data, potential smoking gun.
People must be aware of this con of unbelievable scale. But I am rather pessimistic, given the standard of education being eroded year after year. In Japan the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is no longer taught as 3.14 but just 3. And look at the Big Brother , celebrity culture in the UK. Hopeless.
dohousescrashinthewoods says:
I was reading about a book –“currency wars” – which has gained a lot of traction in high places in China. The thesis appears to be that the Rothschilds are essentially controlling the world by manipulating money.
cornishman says:
@ dohouses… Uncle Tom (I think) posted the following link the other day to a film which supports the thesis you mention. It’s an interesting film (though it does use half gigabyte of download allowance up)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936
harold says:
cornishman, the message I get when I try the link is:
“We’re sorry, but this video may not be available.”
Is this the “Money Masters” by Bill Still?
JU is right-on-the-money regarding the so-called “business cycle”. At some point (before it’s too late) we have to wake up and take the issuing power OUT of the hands of private banks, most importantly the FED. It’s a total disgrace and a scam, and will resulting in our enslavement in debt.
cornishman says:
Harold. The link worked earlier just before I posted the link, but I get the same as you now. Yes, that is the film.