The economic gift of the Chimperator and the rubber stamp, more deregulation GOP Congress that he had for six and one half years just keeps on giving - bad news that is. Home sales and home prices dropped at a record rate last month and sadly things do not appear to be bottoming out as yet. As I have been saying since the summer of 2007 or longer, unless and until the residential real estate market is stabilized and turned around, the larger economy will continue to nose dive. Supposed foreclosure assistance is not yielding results and the banking institutions that have received billions of dollars in taxpayer funds are not passing the relief on to consumers either in terms of loan modifications or easing the difficulty many credit worthy borrowers are experiencing in securing loans. What may turn out to be a refinance boom may save some working in the real estate industry, but it will otherwise probably yield little boost to the economy. Here are some highlights from Reuters:*
The pace of existing home sales plunged a record 8.6 percent in November and prices fell a record amount as layoffs and a stock market crash worsened an already grim housing market, a real estate trade group said Tuesday. The median home price fell 13.2 percent on an annual basis, down for a fifth straight month to $181,300. It was the largest drop since the current data series began in 1968 and probably the largest since the Great Depression.
*
The quickly deteriorating conditions in the job market, stock market and consumer confidence in October and November have knocked down home sales to another level," Yun [Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors] said. "It is, therefore, imperative to provide incentives for homebuyers to get back into the market, Yun said.
*
The housing malaise, which triggered a global financial crisis, has infected other sectors of the broader economy and sent unemployment rates higher. Analysts says stability in the housing sector is key to any recovery in the U.S. economy, which has been in a recession since late last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment