Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Home, Home I'm Deranged Part 9

Yet more bad housing news, this time in new home sales hitting their lowest rate...

Ever.
New U.S. single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in July to set their slowest pace on record while prices were the lowest in more than 6-1/2 years, government data showed on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said sales dropped 12.4 percent to a 276,000 unit annual rate, the lowest since the series started in 1963, from a downwardly revised 315,000 units in June.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales unchanged at a 330,000 unit pace last month. 

"What we are seeing is the downside of government intervention. It had fanned expectations of a market bottom when in fact, it created a false bottom," said Tom Porcelli, a senior economist at RBC Capital Markets in New York. "We expect home sales to stay at this remarkably low range with remarkably high unemployment. There is also little demand for lending." 
Little demand for lending with mortgage rates also at record lows?  Over 12 months supply of housing on the market?  And now new homes hitting the lowest rate ever recorded?

This isn't a housing depression.  It's a complete meltdown.

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