MarketWatch: New-home sales fall to weakest level in 17 years

[marmar]

New-home sales fall to weakest level in 17 years
Sales slump 11.5% to 460,000 pace for August

By Greg Robb, MarketWatch


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of new homes fell to a 17-year low in August, government data showed, raising further concern about conditions in the housing industry.

New-home sales fell 11.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 460,000, marking a new low in this economic cycle, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday.

Sales were much weaker than the 505,000 annualized pace that economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been looking for. See Economic Calendar.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have repeatedly stressed this week on Capitol Hill that the housing market must begin to recover before the nation's battered financial sector can regain its footing.

Sales in July were revised slightly higher, to 520,000 from 515,000 previously estimated.
Last month's sales of new homes were down 34.5% compared with August 2007.

Inventories of unsold homes fell about 4.4% to 408,000 -- the 16th consecutive monthly decline. But because the sales pace has been so weak, the month supply has stayed high. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/economic-report-us-aug-new/story.aspx?guid=%7BAA176456%2DCE33%2D40EC%2D9797%2DFB71820768F4%7D&dist=hplatest

[bullimiami]

1. uh who was pretzledent 17 years back? pawpaw bush.