Home sales soar by record level

gixaholic · #1 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 12:13 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070524/...WufVfF1oms0NUE

WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes surged in April by the biggest amount in 14 years, but the median price of a new home dropped by the largest amount on record. The mixed signals left no clear picture of whether the worst of the nation's housing slump is over.

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The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes jumped by 16.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 981,000 units. That was far better than the tiny 0.2 percent gain that economists had been expecting.

However, the median price of a new home sold last month fell to $229,100, a record 11.1 percent decline from the previous month. The big price decline indicated that builders are slashing prices in an effort to move a huge overhang of unsold homes.

The jump in sales was the biggest increase since a 16.4 percent surge in new home sales that occurred in April 1993.

George O Well · #2 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 12:57 PM

"WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes surged in April by the biggest amount in 14 years, but the median price of a new home dropped by the largest amount on record. The mixed signals left no clear picture of whether the worst of the nation's housing slump is over."

>>>Shit, Gix, why don't you stop posting this shit? There are parts of the country where developers will give you a second home free if you buy one at the asking price.

Still Dizzy · #3 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 12:59 PM

Home sales records are because of the Liberal/Socialists. The price drop HAS to be the fault of GWB.

gixaholic · #4 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George O Well

"WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes surged in April by the biggest amount in 14 years, but the median price of a new home dropped by the largest amount on record. The mixed signals left no clear picture of whether the worst of the nation's housing slump is over."

>>>Shit, Gix, why don't you stop posting this shit? There are parts of the country where developers will give you a second home free if you buy one at the asking price.

hey george can you please direct me to where this is happening.. i wouldn't mind a free house... please link....

thank you..

seeker · #5 (**permalink**) 05-25-2007, 07:27 AM

Lately(year or so) I've been musing over my own housing area(FL) problem.

I'd like to move about 20-30 minutes from where I live now but it seems like we'd have to take a big hit in house price to the point where we feel that we couldn't make a lateral move without feeling like we've lost something. In addition our mortgage interest rate would go up.

It is frustrating and we've been waiting, and waiting to do this. Its really starting to drag on.

I see this as a situation that is bad for business and bad for the economy.

George O Well · #6 (**permalink**) 05-25-2007, 11:40 AM

I admit, Gix, the two for one thang was a little bit of hyperbole on my part. But go to the West Valley in Phoenix. Developers are giving away free pools, free landscaping packages, free furniture - you name it. And that's on already slashed base prices.

gixaholic · #7 (**permalink**) 05-25-2007, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by George O Well

I admit, Gix, the two for one thang was a little bit of hyperbole on my part. But go to the West Valley in Phoenix. Developers are giving away free pools, free landscaping packages, free furniture - you name it. And that's on already slashed base prices.

so you where lying.... why isn't that suprise.......... And as far as giving away free pools and lanscaping..... maybee that is just effective marketing.

Nothing grabs the attention of buyers if you say free pool meanwhile the price of the pool is already figured in the price...

George O Well · #8 (**permalink**) 05-26-2007, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gixaholic

so you where lying.... why isn't that suprise.......... And as far as giving away free pools and lanscaping..... maybee that is just effective marketing.

Nothing grabs the attention of buyers if you say free pool meanwhile the price of the pool is already figured in the price...

>>>Alright, Gix, how about the fact that sales volume is 30% of what it was in 2005 and 2006? Is that just effective marketing, too? "Hey, I think I'll sell one house per month instead of one house per week. Then I'll slash my prices. Then I'll go back to the lender and see if they'll re-cast my loan." Effective marketing, my white ass.

Dom1 · #9 (**permalink**) 05-27-2007, 04:09 PM

The housing market is taking a big hit in some areas, I can't speak for many areas of the country but I would say that many areas are in a similar situation to what is going on in a mid sized city (200K) near me. The housing market is floundering here and it is the fault of the large home builders. They threw up houses which are cheaply made and offer the houses at 0% down. With the monthly payments for the houses it was actually cheaper than renting in some cases and the people thought they were building up equity so it was a good thing. I actually talked one of my friends out of buying one of these houses and he listened and he is glad he did. These houses that were thrown up are appreciating at about 1% and I would say it is most likely that the land is appreciating and not the house. Hell, the houses are becoming like cars . . . they depreciate as soon as someone lives in them.

Why would people buy a house that someone has lived in when they can get the exact same house next door at 0% down and nobody has lived in it? It is also hurting the people who are trying to sell rentals because of the 0% down, cheap as hell, piece of shit houses which are being made.

That being said, the higher end houses aren't hurting a whole lot in my area and the people I have talked to have not experienced that either. It is the houses which are made so poorly that (and I am not kidding) they tell you that you can't have a water bed or a pool table in some of the rooms!

Much of the housing problem was created by home builders who over extended themselves and were in such a hurry to build, and build cheaply, that created a surplus of homes - which appeal mainly to people who are just starting out and who are in the worst position to take a hit. Part of the blame also goes to the buyers who bought into a home which they should have known would gain no value.

A house isn't just a place to live, it is an investment because for many (especially when they are young) they don't know where they will be in five years.

Cookie Parker · #10 (**permalink**) 05-27-2007, 04:51 PM

New homes are give aways from the government to get more jobs for illegals who make up the bulk of the construction industry now...and new homes are cheap and not made to last.

the REAL indicator of the economy is this...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18475171/

Quote:

A recent survey by the Travel Industry Association of America, a trade group representing the travel industry, suggested vacation inflation is a growing concern among travelers. In its study of leisure travelers, it found that the biggest barrier to achieving an ideal vacation is money. More than a quarter of the respondents admitted that they were disappointed with their last getaway.

No doubt about it, travelers are getting less for more. But for every sky-high airfare or overpriced hotel, there’s a way around vacation inflation. I know because I’ve spent my entire career helping people make the most of their vacations, no matter how much money they have to spend.

or this...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18769563/

Quote:

pdated: 12:01 a.m. ET May 21, 2007

Weighed down by a housing slump, the economy in 2007 will log its most sluggish growth in five years. But that showing should not cause businesses to really clamp down on hiring, economic forecasters say.

A forecast released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics puts the growth of the gross domestic product at 2.2 percent for this year. The rate was 2.7 percent in the group’s previous survey, in February.

If the latest prediction proves correct, the growth rate would be the weakest since 2002. Back then, the fragile economy was emerging from a recession and grew by just 1.6 percent.
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“The expansion has descended from its cruising altitude,” said the association’s president, Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at LaSalle Bank.

The main culprit is the sour housing market. It fell into a slump last year after a five-year boom. Nearly half of the forecasters think the market will not reach its bottom until this winter or later.

Even so, the employment climate should continue to weather the fallout from the housing slump, the forecasters said.

They predict the unemployment rate for 2007 will match last year’s rate of 4.6 percent, a six-year low.

For the most part, employers have shown a decent appetite to hire even as the economy, as measured by the GDP, has lost momentum.

GDP is the value of all goods and services produced within the United States. It is considered the best barometer of the country’s economic standing.

For next year, the forecasters believe the economy will grow by 2.9 percent — somewhat sluggish and lower than the earlier forecast of 3 percent.

The unemployment rate would edge up to 4.8 percent next year, according to the survey of 48 forecasters that was conducted April 19 through May 8.

More than half of the forecasters said there was at least a 25 percent chance of a recession getting under way within the next year. Earlier this year, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan put the odds of a recession at one in three.

Geeeze. There's NO good news for the American family...how are those tax breaks working out for you?