NEW HOME SALES DROP BY 26% IN 2007

New homes sales dropped by 26% in 2007, the biggest decline since recordkeeping began in 1963.

From The New York Times:

Some economists predict the market may start to recover in the summer. Others are less optimistic. “There is no sign of a bottom in any of these data,” wrote Ian C. Shepherdson, a London-based economist at High Frequency Economics. Last month alone, sales of new homes tumbled 4.7 percent, to a 604,000 annual rate, the smallest monthly sales figure since February 1995.

Prices also fell sharply. In December, the median price of a new home fell to $219,200, down 10.9 percent from December 2006.

MORE BAD NEWS FOR HOUSING MARKET

From USA Today:

Sales of existing homes dropped for a fifth straight month in July, falling to the slowest annual pace in nearly five years, while home prices fell for a record 12th consecutive month.

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes dipped 0.2% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units.

The median price of a home sold last month slid to $230,200, down 0.6% from the median price a year ago. It marked the 12th consecutive month that home prices have declined compared with a year ago, an all-time high.

The inventory of homes for sale rose 5.1% to 4.59 million, representing 9.6 months worth of supply at the current sales pace.

NEW HOME SALES FALL, MEDIAN PRICE INCREASES

Sales of new homes fell 3.2% in October, after increasing the previous two months, according to the Commerce Department. Over the past year, sales have fallen 25.4%. The median price for a new home rose 1.9% from October 2005, the biggest increase since February. In October, there were 558,000 new homes for sale, a seven-month supply.

Forbes