JULY EXISTING HOME SALES 5.75 MILLION
July existing home sales were 5.75 million at an annual rate, down slightly from the upwardly revised 5.76 million unit rate in June. This was slightly above analysts’ expectations. Sales of new single family homes were down 0.4% from June but condo sales increased 1.4%. The median price of existing home sales was $228,900, down 0.6% from July 2006. Single family home prices were down 1% from year earlier levels to $228,600. The unsold inventories of homes continued to rise in July and by the end of the month represented 9.6 months supply, the highest level in over a decade. On a geographic basis new home sales were down 2.2% in the Midwest, unchanged in the South, up 1% in the Northeast and up 1.8% in the West. Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors, expressed the NAR’s opinion that the subprime problems would not damage the economy, though he acknowledged that increased foreclosures were responsible for 5-7% of the increase in inventories. The increase in payments due to loan resets is estimated at $30 billion, a relatively small share of the increasing incomes based on the NAR’s analysis. High insurance rates continue to dampen home prices in Florida, reducing prices by an amount NAR estimates at $20,000.
Kathryn Kobe NTKN, Washington DC