Existing-home sales drop to 4-year low

[BigBearJohn]

MSNBC.com


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Existing-home sales drop to 4-year low
Home prices fall for a record tenth-straight month
The Associated Press
Updated: 12:40 p.m. PT June 25, 2007

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes fell for a third straight month in May, dropping to the lowest level in four years as the median sales price declined for a record 10th consecutive month.

In a troubling sign for the future, the inventory of unsold homes shot up to the highest level in 15 years, meaning more downward pressure on prices in the months ahead until the inventory glut is reduced.

Sales fell by 0.3 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday. Sales now stand 10.3 percent below where they were a year ago.

Economists predicted home prices would likely head lower in the months ahead because of continued troubles in reducing the stockpile of unsold homes, which rose 5 percent in May to 4.43 million units. That was an 8.9 months supply at the May sales pace, a level that has not been seen since July 1992, the last time the country went through a serious housing slump.

“The only way we are going to chip away at this Mount Everett-sized pile of inventory is by price cuts and so far, sellers haven’t been aggressive enough,” said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research. “Don’t look for a lasting bottom in the housing market anytime soon.”


URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19414289/


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[roamer65]

1. Never fear! "Helicopter Ben" Bernanke to the rescue!!!

M3 money supply is now growing at over 13 percent, with the rate of inflation at 10.3 percent, according to the old measurement.

http://www.shadowstats.com

The only country printing more money than us is Japan, in an attempt to keep the yen at the 120 level and prevent an "unwinding" of the yen carry trade.

Get your disco ball out folks...this one's gonna be a repeat of the 1974-75 inflationary recession.

In case you have any "WIN" (Whip inflation now) buttons left from the Ford admin, I would hang onto them.:woohoo: :sarcasm: