CHANGE MY LOCATION
Business
Examiners
Business Examiner
Most Recent Post
IRAs, 401(k)s, small businesses - candidates talk about their plans
Internet Business Examiner
Most Recent Post
Digression: YouTube video isn't a commercial but could be
California News
Multimedia News
New-homes sales tumble to 7-year low in August
SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED
Related Topics:
New-homes sales fell in August to the lowest level in seven years.
Sales of new homes dropped 8.3 percent in August from July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, driving down sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000. That was the lowest level since June 2000.
“Sales are down, but buyers are definitely out there looking,” said Brenda Desjardins, owner of New Home Marketing Services, a residential market research firm based in Annapolis.
“The customer doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the value of a home today, because we were in such an upswing a year ago, they don’t want to receive a discount on their own home and look for a new home,” Desjardins said. “The customer is really just sitting still, but we’ve certainly been through a lot tougher times.”
The home sales report came on the same day that the government reported a relatively brisk business growth rate in revised figures for the second quarter. But the 3.8 percent pace was less than previously estimated, and it occurred before the credit crisis and its repercussions across the broad spectrum of the economy had taken hold.
The median sales price in August fell by 7.5 percent from a year earlier to $225,700. That was the biggest drop in percentage terms in nearly 37 years. The median price is the middle point at which half sell for more and half for less. The average sales price dropped by 8 percent in August from a year earlier to $292,000. That was the biggest decline in 17 years.
The new-homes sales report, combined with other recent economic reports showing a sharp drop in demand for big-ticket manufactured goods in August, suggested the economy lost momentum as it headed into the fall.
Staff writer Andrew Cannarsa contributed to this article.
