27
Jan
US home sales see surprise rise
US home sales unexpectedly rose in December as buyers took
advantage of much lower house prices, industry figures have
showed.Sales of existing homes rose 6.5% to an annual rate of 4.74
million, up from 4.45 million units in November, the National
Association of Realtors said. Analysts had been expecting
December sales to total 4.4 million. For 2008 as a whole, sales
fell 13.1% to 4.91 million units, the worst year in a decade.
'It appears some buyers are taking advantage of much lower home
prices,' said Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist.
'Buyers will continue to have an edge over sellers for the
foreseeable future.' The association said that existing home prices
fell by 15.3% in December from the same period a year earlier, with
45% of transactions viewed as 'distress sales', where the seller
was forced to sell at a discounted price.
2009 rebound?
The rise in home sales was also down to a fall in the number of
unsold homes on the market. However, analysts said that this trend
could reverse, as sellers were likely to resume putting their homes
up for sale in the spring. 'The bottom line is that existing home
sales have weakened markedly following the credit market seizure in
September,' said Paul Ashworth, senior economist at Capital
Economics.
'The subsequent decline in mortgage rates may spur a rebound in
2009, but nothing is guaranteed,' he added. New home construction
has also been hit by the economic slowdown.
Housing starts in the US fell by 15.5% in December to hit an
all-time low, official statistics released last week showed. The
rate of new construction was down 45% from December 2007.
Article from www.news.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 27th January 2009.