Posted on 03/26/2007 7:07:51 AM PDT by tmp02
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. homes fell 3.9 percent in February to the lowest rate in nearly seven years while the number of new homes on the market grew, according to a government report on Monday that showed more signs of weakness in the housing sector.
The monthly decline was the second straight and the volume of sales fell to their lowest level since June 2000, when they hit 793,000.
New single-family home sales fell to an annual rate of 848,000 units from a downwardly revised rate of 882,000 in January, the Commerce Department said. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting February sales to rise to 985,000 from the previously reported rate of 937,000 units in January.
In February, the median sales price of a new home rose $6,800 to $250,000 from $243,200 in January.
At the current sales pace, the supply of new homes available rose to 8.1 months at the current sales pace, the highest rate since January 1991, from 7.3 months in January.
The Commerce Department's data comes days after a real estate trade group reported a stronger-than-expected month of existing home sales.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.reuters.com ...
We're dooooomed!
Good. I don't want to hear any more about a "housing shortage" for at least 8.1 months.
So, it's "stronger than expected" but still a decline.
So are we supposed to feel doomed or relieved? I forget, what is the MSM telling us to feel?
Less houses selling but for more money....
Oddly, the NAR reported the exact opposite last Friday. Sales rose and prices dropped.
A 8.1 month supply glut, a 3.9 sales decline, and the median price goes UP $6,800 in Feb. What is wrong with this picture? Builders deserve to go bankrupt with the faulty thinking displayed here.
70 points out of 12,470 is basically noise.
Nothing odd about it. The realtors are advising those selling existing homes that the market is no longer hot, and they have to reduce asking prices. With falling prices, there are more buyers...something that new-home builders don't seem to grasp.
The "stronger than expected" was the Existing Home Sales data from last week. This is New Home Sales.
Prices are up - but methinks so are incentives from builders to make sales. Throw in a deep freezer or hot tub!
The weather throughout much of the country in Feb, was not favorable for peoiple going out looking and buying homes. Winter months are not the best barometer for measuring sales. Let's see what April and May brings.
Which is the opposite of what the article says.
"The sales pace of previously owned homes rose 3.9 percent in February, the biggest gain since March 2004 the National Association of Realtors said on Friday."
Lots of noise month to month:
-- This is a government figure, so it's subject to "revision" next month. Note the 5% "revision" in the January numbers.
-- This statistic is particularly noisy even for a government figure. This is a measure of "signed contracts" and not actual sales.
-- The margin of error is so great that it is almost always statistically possible for there to be a negative number of New Home Sales in this report.
-- FWIW, this Feb sales number is up from Jan but down from last Feb.
BTW, a real estate guy on CNBC says it's a great time to buy! "It's a balanced market between buyers and sellers, and that's a great place to be!" Oops, he lied about the inventory number when he said that.
Let's see now....Last week existing home sales were up, now new home sales are reported to be down...OK class discuss!
Could it be that easy....nah!
Is this only talking about newly constructed homes? Didn't many parts of the US have record cold and snowy weather keeping buyers off the market...
>>>Let's see now....Last week existing home sales were up, now new home sales are reported to be down...OK class discuss!
Existing sales data lag other housing indicators, including the new home sales data, due to existing homes sales being recorded when a sale closes rather than on contract to buy. It is highly likely that existing sales will weaken in the coming months. The NAR Pending Home Sales index dropped in January. This decline will show up in March’s sales figures.
I always wanted my husband to build 5 - 14' yurts, and connect them in a circle. Then I could have planted flowers in the center
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