Existing home sales plunged in September (Record 8 percent decline)

[sabra]

Source: MNSBC/AP

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes plunged by a record amount in September as turmoil in mortgage markets added more problems to a housing industry in its worst slump in 16 years.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of existing homes fell 8 percent in September, the largest decline to show up in records dating to 1999. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 5.04 million existing homes was also the slowest pace on record.

The weakness in sales translated into further pressure on prices. The median price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — fell to $211,700 in September, down by 4.2 percent from the sales price a year ago. It marked the 13th time out of the past 14 months that the year-over-year sales price has decreased.

The 8 percent decline in sales was bigger than the 4.5 percent decline that had been expected.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21451965/

[Amerigo Vespucci]

1. Existing home sales plunged in September

Source: MSNBC

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes plunged by a record amount in September as turmoil in mortgage markets added more problems to a housing industry in its worst slump in 16 years.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of existing homes fell 8 percent in September, the largest decline to show up in records dating to 1999. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 5.04 million existing homes was also the slowest pace on record.

The weakness in sales translated into further pressure on prices. The median price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — fell to $211,700 in September, down by 4.2 percent from the sales price a year ago. It marked the 13th time out of the past 14 months that the year-over-year sales price has decreased.

The 8 percent decline in sales was bigger than the 4.5 percent decline that had been expected.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21451965/

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

2. It's Bottoming Out Though

This is the end, I'm SURE of it.

:sarcasm:

Nothing to see here, move along please.

[Javaman]

5. light at the end of the tunnel, just turning the corner...

nothing but dead ender sales, last throws of the housing bubble...

anyone else?

[TalkingDog]

11. Had to read that twice.

I thought you meant something else.

Torn between apocolypse and SOOOOOO happy it's raining!!!



***And for all the rest of you in the drought stricken areas, last night the Spousal Unit and I finally figured out what makes it rain.

We always use the solar dryer for our clothes; don't even own a drying machine. Sunday and Monday I washed a few loads, but didn't hang them out because it was cloudy and kept "threatening" to rain. But just when I would decide to give in and hang them inside, the sun would come out and so the clouds and I played this litte game until yesterday.

Finally I said: Screw it, we'll go into town to the laundromat and run a couple of errands while we're there. But we got there just as they were closing, so on the way home we decided to hang them out anyway. The Spousal Unit said: "What's the worst that could happen? It rains on them?" I considered it and agreed that, surely as we put them on the line, it probably would rain on them.

About 1:30 a.m. it started. We got a good long soaker. Ahhhhh!
*happy, joy, joy*


Want it to rain? Do a load of laundry, and then hang it outside. Works every time.


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[aquart]

3. Well, I think the market just opened up in California.

[tridim]

4. If the insurance companies decide to honor the claims.

Which is probably not going to happen without a federal bailout.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. It looks like the traditional home insurers in the US aren't much involved.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wildfires raging through Southern California should not cause major losses for home insurers such as Allstate Corp (ALL.N: Quote, Profile , Research), Nationwide (NFS.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and State Farm, according to a report by Goldman Sachs analyst Thomas Cholnoky on Tuesday.

"Most of the more traditional writers (of home insurance) have explicitly avoided writing any exposures in 'brush' defined areas," Cholnoky said in a research note.

He said that while it was too early to assess insurer losses, it appeared that "non-traditional" companies and markets such as London-based Lloyd's might bear the brunt of the losses.

"Given the losses to date, the largely uncontrolled nature of the fire and experience with past events, insured damages from the California wildfires could exceed $500 million," Loretta Worters, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute (III), said in a statement.

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=2007-10-23T231530Z_01_N23282916_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-WILDFIRES-INSURERS-DC.XML

However, the rebuilding these homes isn't technically the same as 'new home starts', but it will help to employ people who were running out/out of work.

[NMDemDist2]

7. I wonder how much that is because no one could get a loan funded

the mortgage folks were pretty gun shy the last couple months and pulled out of many many contracts at the last minute

[NotGivingUp]

8. And this doesn't even take into consideration the high inflation rate

that we are experiencing. The housing prices are dropping...and then they're dropping even more because the value of the dollar is dropping.

[pitohui]

9. that isn't inflation, that's deflation

a falling price for a house is not inflationary, it's deflationary

[AlecBGreen]

10. I believe the poster means this:

let says your house declines in value from $250,000 to $200,000. Thats a big hit. Now also remember that the value of the dollar is dropping against most other major currencies. That means the value of the home is even lower since it is being sold in US currency. I wonder if we will see another surge in foreign investment in US real estate?

[Darth Lenore]

12. Every black cloud has a smoky gray lining....

But if anyone is looking for a job with some measure of security, there's an opportunity here. I work for a law firm that handles foreclosures and I have more work than I can handle. I've been working overtime every day for weeks.

Um...which reminds me...I should probably get back to it....

[spinbaby]

13. What a job.

Mortician to the housing market.

[Darth Lenore]

14. I know. I feel bad.

But it was all I could find and I don't want to be homeless, so....

[spinbaby]

17. I'm not blaming you

The world needs morticians.

[TexasLawyer]

16. Hey, welcome to DU!!!

[QC]

15. The actual decline was a lot more than 8%.

The NAR, as usual, massaged the numbers and the corporate media, as usual, blindly repeated their spin.