New Home Sales Fall to Record-Low Pace
Sales of new single-family homes in the US fell to a record low pace in February as prices dropped to eight-year lows, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Commerce Department. The report showed sales fell 16.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of just 250,000, the lowest pace reported since the agency started keeping records in 1963. January's sales pace, meanwhile, was revised upwardly to a 301,000 pace.
February saw all-time low sales-paces in three of the nation's four regions. Economists who took part in a recent Reuters poll had projected that new home sales would actually increase in February from January's originally reported pace of 284,000 up to 290,000. February's sales were a whopping 28 percent below the same month a year ago when federal tax credits for homebuyers were still propping up the market.
An immense oversupply of homes stemming from huge numbers of foreclosures and slow sales is severely hindering a housing recovery. A report issued Monday showed that sales of previously-owned homes fell steeply in February, as well, with prices nearing decade-lows. The median sales price for US homes plunged 13.9 percent in February to $202,100, the lowest median reported since December 2003. It was also 8.9 percent lower than February 2010's median.
At the pace of sales reported for February, it would take the market some 8.9 months to exhaust supply, up from 7.4 months in January. There were a total of 186,000 new homes listed for sale in February, unchanged from the previous month.
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