New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years

[Wretched Excess]

the median price fell by a record setting amount;  it does not therefore follow that actual values
are at 40 year lows.

following one of the biggest booms in the history of houses, this shouldn't surprise anyone.  and this
is hardly bad news for new home buyers.

New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years, prices drop by largest amount in 38 years

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes plunged in March to the slowest pace in 16 1/2 years as a two-year housing downturn extended into the start of another spring sales season. The median price of a new home in March compared to a year ago fell at the fastest clip in 38 years.

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 since October 1991, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The median price of a home sold in March dropped by 13.3 percent compared with March 2007, the biggest year-over-year price decline since a 14.6 percent plunge in July 1970.

Housing, which boomed for five years, has been in a prolonged slump for the past two years with sales and home prices falling at especially sharp rates in formerly hot sales areas.

Some analysts said they believe the slide in sales may be close to ending although they said any rebound is likely to be slow and anemic with prices continuing to fall, possibly until this time next year.

Earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes also fell in March, dropping by 2 percent, with prices declining on a year-over-year basis by 7.7 percent.

"The start of the spring home buying season is turning out to be a bust," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Bank Corp. in Pittsburgh. "It is much better to be a buyer than a seller right now."

Hoffman said he thought sales would stabilize by this fall but that prices could keep falling until the start of the 2009 spring sales season. Prices are being depressed by the continued huge inventory of unsold homes, a backlog that reflects rising numbers of mortgage defaults which are dumping more homes on an already glutted market.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied Thursday as investors were cheered by first-quarter results from Fort Motor Co. and a sizable decline in weekly applications for unemployment benefits. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 85.73 points to close at 12,848.95.

For March, new home sales were down in all regions of the country, dropping the most in the Northeast, a decline of 19.4 percent. Sales fell by 12.9 percent in the West, 12.5 percent in the Midwest and 4.6 percent in the South.

More

[morningAngel]

the median price fell by a record setting amount;  it does not therefore follow that actual values
are at 40 year lows.

following one of the biggest booms in the history of houses, this shouldn't surprise anyone.  and this
is hardly bad news for new home buyers.

New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years, prices drop by largest amount in 38 years

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes plunged in March to the slowest pace in 16 1/2 years as a two-year housing downturn extended into the start of another spring sales season. The median price of a new home in March compared to a year ago fell at the fastest clip in 38 years.

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 since October 1991, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The median price of a home sold in March dropped by 13.3 percent compared with March 2007, the biggest year-over-year price decline since a 14.6 percent plunge in July 1970.

Housing, which boomed for five years, has been in a prolonged slump for the past two years with sales and home prices falling at especially sharp rates in formerly hot sales areas.

Some analysts said they believe the slide in sales may be close to ending although they said any rebound is likely to be slow and anemic with prices continuing to fall, possibly until this time next year.

Earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes also fell in March, dropping by 2 percent, with prices declining on a year-over-year basis by 7.7 percent.

"The start of the spring home buying season is turning out to be a bust," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Bank Corp. in Pittsburgh. "It is much better to be a buyer than a seller right now."

Hoffman said he thought sales would stabilize by this fall but that prices could keep falling until the start of the 2009 spring sales season. Prices are being depressed by the continued huge inventory of unsold homes, a backlog that reflects rising numbers of mortgage defaults which are dumping more homes on an already glutted market.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied Thursday as investors were cheered by first-quarter results from Fort Motor Co. and a sizable decline in weekly applications for unemployment benefits. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 85.73 points to close at 12,848.95.

For March, new home sales were down in all regions of the country, dropping the most in the Northeast, a decline of 19.4 percent. Sales fell by 12.9 percent in the West, 12.5 percent in the Midwest and 4.6 percent in the South.

More

buy me a new house baby? 

[Wretched Excess]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 






 

[Wretched Excess]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 






 

you never get me anything nice 

[Wretched Excess]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

[morningAngel]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

yeah, for free,and for the next twenty years I'll have to hear about "remember that time I had to fix your quote tag"..at least if I had a nice new house to live in while hearing it.....

[Wretched Excess]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

yeah, for free,and for the next twenty years I'll have to hear about "remember that time I had to fix your quote tag"..at least if I had a nice new house to live in while hearing it.....

 . . . . . . then you would just bitch because I fixed your quote tags.  "abuse of admin power!!  lousy no good censor!!  you sexist a$$hole!  maybe I wanted my quote tags mismatched!  ever think of that, you inconsiderate b*stard!!"


 

[morningAngel]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

yeah, for free,and for the next twenty years I'll have to hear about "remember that time I had to fix your quote tag"..at least if I had a nice new house to live in while hearing it.....

 . . . . . . then you would just bitch because I fixed your quote tags.  "abuse of admin power!!  lousy no good censor!!  you sexist a$$hole!  maybe I wanted my quote tags mismatched!  ever think of that, you inconsiderate b*stard!!"


 

FINE
if thats how you feel about it, then don't buy me a house then.  See if I ever ask for anything ever again no matter how much I do around here, I guess it just isn't that important as your JOB now is it?

[rich_t]

Bush did it.

[Wretched Excess]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

yeah, for free,and for the next twenty years I'll have to hear about "remember that time I had to fix your quote tag"..at least if I had a nice new house to live in while hearing it.....

 . . . . . . then you would just bitch because I fixed your quote tags.  "abuse of admin power!!  lousy no good censor!!  you sexist a$$hole!  maybe I wanted my quote tags mismatched!  ever think of that, you inconsiderate b*stard!!"


 

FINE
if thats how you feel about it, then don't buy me a house then.  See if I ever ask for anything ever again no matter how much I do around here, I guess it just isn't that important as your JOB now is it?

 

 

(hot bandwidth alert)

[morningAngel]

you started it

[Wretched Excess]

you started it

. . . and damned sorry that I did now, too.


 

[morningAngel]

you started it

. . . and damned sorry that I did now, too.


 

well maybe next time you will be a little more considerate of my delicate feelings...

[Wretched Excess]

you started it

. . . and damned sorry that I did now, too.


 

well maybe next time you will be a little more considerate of my delicate feelings...

doubt it.  I'm sort of a slow learner.

[Crazy Horse]

Has anyone heard about the drop in home sales lately???

[Wretched Excess]

Has anyone heard about the drop in home sales lately???

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Chris_]

It had to slow down sometime, it's insane how everyone feels as though they have to build a new house.

Whatever happened to being "green"? Oh, I forgot, it really isn't about being green, it's about $$$. Which brings me to the sidebar issue of what a scam the green movement really is....  <- that there smiley is for WE.

[Lacarnut]

I am seriously considering buying a house across from my dads house. Can not believe what the houses are renting for. Or I might sell or rent my house and live in the other one. Decisions, decisions.

[Crazy Horse]

I've been looking at houses and the prices are just unbelieveable. Though they are coming down quicker than some like, yet not as fast as I would like. The people that were flipping have stopped and hopefully we can stop the yankees from selling overpriced homes and then buying inflated priced houses............I know, it's a dream to think a Yankee can do such

[DixieBelle]

I've been using ziprealty.com to scour the neighborhood. You can see how long the house has been sitting on the market and how many price reductions they've had. I also use the online tax assessor's link to see what the sales price was originally. Some very interesting stuff!

[Crazy Horse]

I've been using ziprealty.com to scour the neighborhood. You can see how long the house has been sitting on the market and how many price reductions they've had. I also use the online tax assessor's link to see what the sales price was originally. Some very interesting stuff!

I have a good friend thats a realtor and he said Tuesday that in the three county area we live in that the inventory is over 16 months of homes

[Lauri]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

yeah, for free,and for the next twenty years I'll have to hear about "remember that time I had to fix your quote tag"..at least if I had a nice new house to live in while hearing it.....

 . . . . . . then you would just bitch because I fixed your quote tags.  "abuse of admin power!!  lousy no good censor!!  you sexist a$$hole!  maybe I wanted my quote tags mismatched!  ever think of that, you inconsiderate b*stard!!"


 

youre the admin now?? 

[Wretched Excess]

buy me a new house baby? 

in this market?  are you out of your %$$%@#(^%% MIND?!?!?!?!? 

you never get me anything nice 

it's the thought that counts.

(and I fixed your annoying quote tag infraction  . . . . for free )

yeah, for free,and for the next twenty years I'll have to hear about "remember that time I had to fix your quote tag"..at least if I had a nice new house to live in while hearing it.....

 . . . . . . then you would just bitch because I fixed your quote tags.  "abuse of admin power!!  lousy no good censor!!  you sexist a$$hole!  maybe I wanted my quote tags mismatched!  ever think of that, you inconsiderate b*stard!!"


 

youre the admin now?? 

it's a merely an honorary title.

[Lauri]

i see... so this is just between us? 

[Wretched Excess]

i see... so this is just between us? 

yes.  go for it.

:blast goggles: