Thursday, June 24, 2010

Home sales plunged in May

Month-over-month home sales fell by a third in May:
New home sales plummeted to a record low in May, the first month following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. This snapped a two-month streak of gains.

New home sales declined 32.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000 last month, down from an downwardly revised 446,000 in April, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales year-over-year fell 18.3%.

This is the slowest sales pace since the Commerce Department began tracking data in 1963. The prior record was set in September 1981, when new homes sold at an annual rate of 338,000.

"We expected a slowdown, but the extent of this decline was a surprise," said Anika Khan, an economist at Wells Fargo. The figure was even worse than her relatively pessimistic forecast of an annual rate of 380,000 in May. ...

"Clearly, the lack of a tax credit had a lot to do with it, and it's going to be a bit of a bumpy road ahead as we get a few more months of payback," Khan said.
Of course home sales fell in May. After all, with the tax credit expiring on April 30, who wants to be the sucker who buys on May 1?

13 comments:

  1. Home sale in Augusta GA have slowed as well.

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  2. Sucker who buys on may 1st? Anyone who bought a home simply due to the credit is a sucker.

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  3. "An announcement from government-owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae warns: "Defaulting borrowers who walk-away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the date of foreclosure."

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  4. Lurking in the shadows of Washington is the inventory of homes waiting to be put onto the market as foreclosed properties.

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Delinquencies_-foreclosures-cast-three-year-shadow-over-market-96690969.html

    The shadow knows!

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  5. Real estate blogging encourages a culture and principle of RESPECTFUL debate. Great stuff as usual…. Thanks for this.

    Click here for : Miami Beach Houses

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  6. anyone who buys a home within the next 8 years is a sucker

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  7. "I got an 8k refund on my home purchase and by years end I will be down 50k on the home's price, Wheeeeeee! This investing stuff is easy!"

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  8. Hey, guys... my apologies for sending this request through a Comment Form, but I couldn't find another way to get directly to either of you...

    My name is Stirling Gardner, and I'm writing to propose the addition of a guest blog for The Housing Bubble Blog.

    I am a property management and landlord expert originally from the Maryland/Virginia/DC area, now residing in Los Angeles, CA.

    I am happy to brainstorm several different topics I could easily share with members of your site. Anything you can dream up that you think your readers could benefit from.

    I'm looking forward to hearing some of your thoughts, and I hope you're enjoying the impending summer weather!

    Cheers,

    Stirling

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  9. I have an idea Stirling. Why dont you piss off and make your own bubble blog for your ideas?

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  10. LOL

    Another spammer comes along to beg for some traffic on this page rank 6 blog....

    as usual he gets flamed or his post deleted outright....

    then partisan posting as anonymous comes in to post more flamebait that has nothing to do with this thread. Ah bubblemeter, I love you!

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  11. LOL... Hey Noz, when did you start posting anon???

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  12. Stirling, I think this blog's readers have given you their answer.

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  13. Hit us like a brick wall, but we should have all seen it coming. Just my two cents.

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