New Home Sales On Track To Finish As Worst Year On Record

[marmar]

WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes fell for the third straight month in July, a sign that housing remains a drag on the economy. If the current pace continues, 2011 would be the worst year for new-home sales in nearly half a century.

Sales fell nearly 1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That's less than half the 700,000 that economists say represent a healthy market.

Last year, 323,000 homes were sold – the worst year on records that go back to 1963.

While new homes represent less than one-fifth of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs and $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/home-sales-new-mortgage-crisis-record_n_934094.html

[Crazy Dave]

1. Hard to buy a home with no job...

...or a part-time job that only pays $8 an hour.

[ixion]

2. It's gonna be harder to do a whole lot more real soon

I'm sad to say. :(