ARTICLE: Home sales - worst drop in 18 years
Home sales: Worst drop in 18 years
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Existing home sales posted their sharpest drop in 18 years in March, a real estate group said Tuesday, as the latest reading on the troubled housing sector came in much weaker than economists had forecast.
Sales slowed to an annual pace of 6.12 million homes in March, according to the National Association of Realtors, down 8.4 percent from the 6.68 million rate in February. It was the biggest one-month drop since January 1989.
The group reported sharp drops in every region of the country as the annual pace of sales slowed to the weakest level since June 2003, before the record home sales and building boom that started that year.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast sales would fall to an annual rate of 6.45 million in March
The median home price slipped 0.3 percent to $217,000 from a year earlier. That marked the eighth straight month that key price comparison has shown a decline. Earlier this month the trade group projected that 2007 would be the first year to show a decline it nearly 40 years that it has tracked prices.
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http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/24/news/ec ... 2007042410
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Existing home sales posted their sharpest drop in 18 years in March, a real estate group said Tuesday, as the latest reading on the troubled housing sector came in much weaker than economists had forecast.
Sales slowed to an annual pace of 6.12 million homes in March, according to the National Association of Realtors, down 8.4 percent from the 6.68 million rate in February. It was the biggest one-month drop since January 1989.
The group reported sharp drops in every region of the country as the annual pace of sales slowed to the weakest level since June 2003, before the record home sales and building boom that started that year.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast sales would fall to an annual rate of 6.45 million in March
The median home price slipped 0.3 percent to $217,000 from a year earlier. That marked the eighth straight month that key price comparison has shown a decline. Earlier this month the trade group projected that 2007 would be the first year to show a decline it nearly 40 years that it has tracked prices.
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http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/24/news/ec ... 2007042410
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It.
The entire country is seeing a slowdown in the housing market, except Seattle. Remember "Seattle is special"
Let's see... Maybe a real-estate crash in the rest of the country will result in a "flight to quality" as everyone who has money rushes to buy real-estate in the only safe place in the US.
Oh, and a nation-wide recession will be great for Microsoft and Boeing since companies will be even more eager to upgrade their computers and aircraft in order to gain efficiencies and save money. The more airline passenger loads fall, the more they need to have newer (more comfortable) aircraft to maintain market share. Likewise, companies with declining sales will want to make huge IT investments to reduce their need for staff and become more efficient.
Yup, a good thumping US recession is just what Seattle needs to reach the economic stratosphere.
Wow! Sniglet, you're good! You've convinced me! I am going to buy lots of Microsoft and Boeing stock right now!
Kidding aside, when do we see the Seattle numbers on this?
March numbers for Seattle were laready published a couple weeks ago. Numbers for April will be published on/around May 6th.