Existing Home Sales Drop for Fourth Straight Month
In the latest report from The National Association of Realtors sales of existing homes dropped by 3.8 percent in June, making it the fourth straight month existing home sales declined.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units is the slowest sales pace in 4 1/2 years, signaling a very real housing bubble burst after so many fruitful years.
And no part of the country was spared, with nationwide sales drops of 7.3 percent in the Northeast, 6.8 percent in the West, 2.8 percent in the Midwest and 1.7 percent in the South.
There were two pieces of good news amongst the bad, including the fact that inventory of unsold homes dropped by 4.2% in June to 4.2 million units and the median price of an existing home rose to $230,300 in June, a 0.1% increase from the sales price a year ago, a signal that price stabilization may be on the way.
Unfortunately, many potential buyers are still feeling out the market, especially with mortgage rates at near highs and tougher underwriting standards.
The news comes on the heels of more bad news from the nation’s largest lender, Countrywide, who now says the subprime problems have spread to A-paper borrowers as well.
Surprise, surprise.