Post by unlawflcombatnt on Jul 4, 2007 20:15:40 GMT -6
Below are excerpts from an Associated Press article describing the ongoing collapse of the housing market. The title of the article is
Pending Home Sales Near a 6-Year Low
"Pending sales of existing homes dropped to their lowest level in almost six years...demonstrating the persistence of the housing slump.
The 3.5 percent decline in May, compared with the previous month, follows a drop of 3.4 percent in April and a 4.5 percent dip in March. It leaves the National Association of Realtors' index at its lowest point since September 2001.
Lawrence Yun, the association's senior economist, said turmoil in the mortgage market is weighing on home sales, as lenders pull back from riskier mortgages to borrowers with weak credit histories....
The association's index of pending home sales fell to 97.7 in May, from a downwardly revised figure of 101.2 in April. The May figure is 13.3 percent lower than the May 2006 reading of 112.7.
The index stood at 89.8 in September 2001. An index reading of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity in 2001....
The drop in pending sales follows a report from the association last week that showed actual sales of existing homes also fell in May, to the lowest level in four years, while the median home price dropped for a record 10th consecutive month.
Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 0.3 percent to 5.99 million units in May, the slowest sales pace since June of 2003, the trade group reported June 25. The median price of a home sold last month dropped to $223,700, down 2.1 percent from a year ago....
Last Thursday, KB Home reported a 36 percent drop in revenue and a loss of $148.7 million, or $1.93 per share, for its second quarter ended May 31. The company took a pretax charge of $308.2 million to reflect the decreased value of unsold homes on its books and for walking away from deposits on land it no longer wants to buy."
Pending Home Sales Near a 6-Year Low
"Pending sales of existing homes dropped to their lowest level in almost six years...demonstrating the persistence of the housing slump.
The 3.5 percent decline in May, compared with the previous month, follows a drop of 3.4 percent in April and a 4.5 percent dip in March. It leaves the National Association of Realtors' index at its lowest point since September 2001.
Lawrence Yun, the association's senior economist, said turmoil in the mortgage market is weighing on home sales, as lenders pull back from riskier mortgages to borrowers with weak credit histories....
The association's index of pending home sales fell to 97.7 in May, from a downwardly revised figure of 101.2 in April. The May figure is 13.3 percent lower than the May 2006 reading of 112.7.
The index stood at 89.8 in September 2001. An index reading of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity in 2001....
The drop in pending sales follows a report from the association last week that showed actual sales of existing homes also fell in May, to the lowest level in four years, while the median home price dropped for a record 10th consecutive month.
Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 0.3 percent to 5.99 million units in May, the slowest sales pace since June of 2003, the trade group reported June 25. The median price of a home sold last month dropped to $223,700, down 2.1 percent from a year ago....
Last Thursday, KB Home reported a 36 percent drop in revenue and a loss of $148.7 million, or $1.93 per share, for its second quarter ended May 31. The company took a pretax charge of $308.2 million to reflect the decreased value of unsold homes on its books and for walking away from deposits on land it no longer wants to buy."