Free Republic

New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years, with biggest price fall in 38 years WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes plunged in March to the lowest level in 16 1/2 years as housing slumped further at the start of the spring sales season. The median price of a new home in March compared to a year ago fell by the largest amount in nearly four decades. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new homes dropped by 8.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units, the slowest sales pace...

<p>As Washington policymakers struggle to keep the U.S. out of recession, the swirling confusion over the housing market is making their job a lot tougher. Will American consumers keep shopping or be forced to pull back? Will banks lend freely or be hamstrung by mortgage defaults? What are the best policy options right now? Those and other important questions simply can't be answered without a good idea of whether home prices will rise, flatten out, or keep dropping.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of existing homes fell in December, closing out a horrible year for housing in which sales of single-family homes plunged by the largest amount in 25 years. The median home price dropped for the entire year, the first time that has occurred in four decades. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 2.2 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units. For the year, sales of single-family homes were down by 13 percent, the biggest drop since a 17.7 percent plunge in 1982....

Here's one bright side to the housing crisis: some lower rents. The regions hardest hit by the housing downturn have seen ailing builders, rising foreclosure rates and a glut of unsold homes, amid other signs of distress. But there are also stories like Laura Evans's. The 38-year-old elementary-school teacher moved to Stuart, Fla., from Orlando with her husband and baby last fall. Looking for a rental apartment, they were pleasantly surprised: There were plenty of choices at lower-than-expected prices, thanks to the multitude of owners trying to rent units they couldn't sell. "When we got down here, we shopped and...

Listen folks there is no bubble, take it from me there has been a cosmic shift in real estate investing. Foreign money, "old money", dead baby boomer inheritance money and speculation type money is pouring into the real estate market faster then Carter can make liver pills. There is now absolutely no connection between home ownership and personal income, real estate (residential) in the US is now a global economic comody, just like pork bellys and sugar cane. Who cares if the average income family can no longer afford the average home. Don't worry. Their money is unimportant. They should...