Post by unlawflcombatnt on Jun 5, 2007 18:47:55 GMT -6
Below is an excerpt from a Bloomberg article from Patrick.net providing still further evidence a continuing decline of the Housing Market. The article is titled Pending Home Resales in U.S. Fall to Four-Year Low
"By Bob Willis and Shobhana Chandra
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- An index of pending sales of existing homes in the U.S. unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in more than four years in April, a further sign the real-estate slump may linger.
The index of signed purchase agreements, or pending home resales, fell 3.2 percent to 101.4, the lowest since February 2003, after a revised 4.5 percent decline in March, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The index was down 10.2 percent from April 2006.
Rising mortgage defaults are putting more houses back on the market and prompting banks to tighten lending standards, making home purchases less affordable. Federal Reserve policy makers are forecasting that the glut of unsold homes will probably prolong the housing slump, already the deepest in a decade and a half.
``We've still got a very big overhang of home inventory,'' said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. ``A housing recovery won't happen this year.''...
Citing tightened lending standards, the National Association of Realtors on May 9 lowered its forecasts for home construction and sales. It forecast existing home sales will decline to 6.29 million this year, from 6.48 million in 2006, while housing starts will drop to 1.49 million from 1.8 million in 2006....
Falling home prices leave consumers with less in equity gains to borrow against. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that will help slow consumer spending this year to a 2.6 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter from a 4.4 percent rate in the first three months of the year.
Residential construction subtracted from growth for the last six quarters, and many economists are saying construction won't begin to add to growth until 2008....
New home construction in the U.S. may not return to last year's level until 2011, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, in a May 29 interview in Washington.
``We've fallen way below trend because we soared way above trend during boom times,'' Seiders said. ``The upswing will be relatively slow, unlike earlier cycles.''....
Homebuilders are cutting staff as sales drop. Pulte Homes Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, will fire 16 percent of its staff, further shrinking a workforce that has been cut by a quarter since the industry slump started, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based company said May 30...."
"By Bob Willis and Shobhana Chandra
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- An index of pending sales of existing homes in the U.S. unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in more than four years in April, a further sign the real-estate slump may linger.
The index of signed purchase agreements, or pending home resales, fell 3.2 percent to 101.4, the lowest since February 2003, after a revised 4.5 percent decline in March, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The index was down 10.2 percent from April 2006.
Rising mortgage defaults are putting more houses back on the market and prompting banks to tighten lending standards, making home purchases less affordable. Federal Reserve policy makers are forecasting that the glut of unsold homes will probably prolong the housing slump, already the deepest in a decade and a half.
``We've still got a very big overhang of home inventory,'' said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts. ``A housing recovery won't happen this year.''...
Citing tightened lending standards, the National Association of Realtors on May 9 lowered its forecasts for home construction and sales. It forecast existing home sales will decline to 6.29 million this year, from 6.48 million in 2006, while housing starts will drop to 1.49 million from 1.8 million in 2006....
Falling home prices leave consumers with less in equity gains to borrow against. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast that will help slow consumer spending this year to a 2.6 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter from a 4.4 percent rate in the first three months of the year.
Residential construction subtracted from growth for the last six quarters, and many economists are saying construction won't begin to add to growth until 2008....
New home construction in the U.S. may not return to last year's level until 2011, said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, in a May 29 interview in Washington.
``We've fallen way below trend because we soared way above trend during boom times,'' Seiders said. ``The upswing will be relatively slow, unlike earlier cycles.''....
Homebuilders are cutting staff as sales drop. Pulte Homes Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, will fire 16 percent of its staff, further shrinking a workforce that has been cut by a quarter since the industry slump started, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based company said May 30...."