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New home sales hit 6-month low, prices drop

New home sales hit 6-month low, prices drop

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales and prices of new single-family U.S. homes fell in Aug notwithstanding historically low mortgage rates, underscoring a problems policymakers face in efforts to boost a moribund housing sector.

A low pursuit marketplace and a large overhang of unsold existent homes have total to keep new home sales on a rocks even as debt rates returned to lows not seen given during slightest a early 1970s.

New home sales slipped 2.3 percent final month to a 295,000 annual rate, a six-month low, a Commerce Department pronounced on Monday. That was in line with analysts' forecasts and did small to reduce fears a United States could trip behind into recession.

The median sales cost also changed reduce from a prior month and was 7.7 percent next year-ago levels.

"There's no pointer nonetheless that low debt rates are assisting a housing sector," pronounced Gary Thayer, a strategist during Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis, Missouri.

The U.S. Federal Reserve final week denounced new measures to palliate credit serve for home buyers, though analysts counsel that a turn of debt rates is not a categorical jump to buying.

Many economists are doubtful attempts to reduce rates will assistance most since millions of Americas owe some-more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, that can effectively sequence them to their properties while also preventing them from refinancing to reduce their monthly costs.

Heavy debts taken on during a housing bang in a prior decade are also creation consumers discreet to spend.

After mercantile expansion slowed neatly in a initial half of a year, a United States looks generally exposed to any escalation in a European debt crisis.

The S&P 500 batch index rose notwithstanding a bad information as tellurian equities climbed on hopes that Europe was rebellious Greece's debt woes.

Euro section officials are operative on ways to increase a financial firepower of their bailout account to quarrel a region's emperor debt predicament some-more effectively.

In a monthly news on single-family home sales, a U.S. supervision lifted a guess for July's sales gait somewhat to 302,000 units. Also, a supply of homes accessible on a marketplace in Aug forsaken to a record low.

Data final week showed new construction of U.S. homes fell in August, boring on mercantile growth.

"The housing section can't get any worse," pronounced Michael Englund, an economist during Action Economics in Boulder, Colorado.

(Additional stating by Ellen Freilich and Richard Leong in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

(jason.lange@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1 202 310 5487; Reuters Messaging: jason.lange.reuters.com@reuters.net))


News referensi http://news.yahoo.com/home-sales-fall-2-3-percent-august-140845968.html

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