| From: Paul Kern | 9/25/2006 10:01:39 AM |
| | 2 Recommendations Read Replies (6) of 237989 |
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DJ US Aug Existing Home Sales Dn 0.5% To 6.30 Mln Rate
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Aug Existing Home Sales Aug Jul ! Consensus: !
Total Sales: 6.30M 6.33M ! 6.20M !
% Change: -0.5% -4.1% ! Actual: !
Months Supply: 7.5 7.3 ! 6.30M !
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WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell less than expected in August, as prices fell compared with a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.
Home resales fell to a 6.30 million annual rate, a 0.5 decrease from July's unrevised 6.33 million annual pace.
The median home price was $225,000 in August, compared with a revised $230,000 in July. Last month marked the first year-to-year median price decline since April 1995, and it was the second-biggest in the survey's 38-year history.
NAR chief economist David Lereah said an anticipated decline in prices compared with a year earlier has begun and is likely to continue until the end of the year, helping to support sales.
"With sales stabilizing, we should go back to positive price growth early next year," Lereah said.
The August resales level was above Wall Street expectations of a 6.20 million sales rate for previously owned homes.
The average 30-year rate was 6.52% in August, down from 6.76% in July, according to Freddie Mac (FRE).
By the end of last month, the inventory of homes on the market rose to 7.5 months, compared with with the unrevised 7.3 months of a month earlier, NAR said.
Existing home sales were mixed regionally.
Sales rose 0.7% in the Midwest and 1.9% in the Norhtheast. They were down 2.3% in the West and 0.8% in the South.
-By Campion Walsh; Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862 9249; campion.walsh@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-25-06 1000ET
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