Be vewwwy quiet, wew hunting negative boobs!"
Posted on 04/26/2006 7:25:24 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
ECONOMIC REPORT Stunning 13.8% increase in new home sales
Median prices down year-over-year first time since Dec. 2003 By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- New home sales unexpectedly increased by 13.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.213 million, the highest level of the year, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. The increase more than reversed the 10.9% decline in sales in February. It was far stronger than the mild increase to 1.10 million annualized that was expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar.
Combined with the small increase reported in existing home sales on Tuesday, the report shows the housing market was much stronger in March than anyone had reason to believe. See earlier story. Other housing market indicators, including mortgage applications, housing starts and builders' sentiment, are pointing to a softer housing market.
The strength in home sales, if it persists, could keep the economy growing faster than the Federal Reserve wants and could lead to higher interest rates than now expected. See our complete coverage of the Fed. New home sales are down 8.2% year-to-date. Read the full report.
The government cautions, however, that its housing data are subject to large sampling and other statistical errors. The margin of error is so large, in fact, that the government cannot say with confidence that sales rose at all in March.
It can take up to six months for a trend in sales to emerge. New home sales have averaged 1.22 million per month over the past six months, down from 1.23 million in February and 1.30 million in November.
The inventory of unsold homes on the market increased 2.8% to 550,000, representing a 5.5-month supply at the March sales pace, down from 6.3 months in February. Median home prices fell 2.2% year-over-year to $224,200. It's the first time prices had fallen year-over-year since December 2003.
In March, sales rose 35.7% in the West, reversing the 30.3% drop in February. Sales increased 6.9% in the South, 10.9% in the Midwest and 4.7% in the Northeast.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department said orders for durable goods increased 6.1% in March, including a 71% gain in aircraft orders. Bookings were solid across most industries. See full story.
Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.
Willie Green, Pat Buchanan, $inator Clintoon, Harry Reid, Barbara Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, General Zinni and his boy friend/Tom Clancy, Howard Dean and the screaming heads on ABCNNBCBS are deeply saddened.
Raise the price.......lower the sales.
"I have been reading the naysayers giving us the "the housing market is going to collapse" line for some time. And also some say the housing market has nothing to do with the economy surge, and some who say Bush's tax cuts have nothing to do with home buying increase (since 2000), blah blah blah...When it comes down to it, the only thing that matters is what the WH does and what the WH says. And they have always done what they said they will do, too."
It is so simple isn't it. But don't tell the negative boobs, they might wake up.
Fire Rummy! Put Rove in jail and impeach GW for a better economy and a safer world! (sarcasm off now!)
LOL...That's something I haven't been able to figure out for the last couple years. The Dems say there might be more jobs but they're minimum wage jobs. I want to know how those people making minimum wage are buying all those homes in the 150 to 300 thou range.
I'm not for sure, but didn't Eve come after the last Ice Age?
I wonder why that would be? Oh yeah, our dependence on foreign oil and the current gas price might have something to do with that. But, perhaps, that's a discussion for another thread (or the 100 or so that we already have going at FR).
Anyway...
Be vewwwy quiet, wew hunting negative boobs!"
"All of this negativism is really getting on my nerves. It affects a person's whole being.'
One can only imagine the pain and deep depression for the rats in the DNC, Congress, DU, and the MSM, when they read this and other good news which I will be posting.
One of our best friends is nicknamed Mortgage Man. He is a vp with one of the big banks and gets bought out about every three years by another bank at a bigger salary and bonus. He has been in the Mortgage end of the banking business for over 3 decades.
He predicted this. He said when buyers see a dip in new home prices (not in this area) and see mortgage rates increasing, many will make the move to buy a new home.
I guess that is why he gets the big bucks and laughs at the whining negative nay boobs.
In other news: the sky is still falling, minorities and the poor worst hit.
Ah, more froth on the beer.
Lower the price....sell more.
Raise the price.......lower the sales.
Exactly. See my reply #32 to back up your comment/observation.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1621786/posts?page=32#32
The one exception is in areas with very limited property for new homes, very limited new homes and increasing demand for existing and new homes for at least a decade.
"Nothing to see here. I search the internet for hours looking for bubble stories. Time to move on."
Want to learn more? Give me more hits for my blog? /sarc ex-tex, I couldn't help it...;->
"Maybe Eve and Adam relied on an oil furnace supplied them by Halliburton."
Dick Cheney must have helped them instead of shooting.
"In other news: the sky is still falling, minorities and the poor worst hit."
You can bet the only reporting by the MSM on this will be to show some some illegal gay cross dressing aliens can't afford to buy a new home due to the increased prices. GW will be blamed again.
We shouldn't confuse volume with price. The existence or non-existence of a housing bubble is predicated on the current price of the homes being sold with respect to their historical and expected trend, not the aggregate volume of sales. While the number of transactions may be good for real estate agents, it alone does not speak positively or negatively about the demand for housing in total. It may describe a relocation of people from some regions to others, or it may describe sales by people who intend to invest but not live in the properties, but in itself does not have enough information.
Here we go again bursting the bubbles of the negative nay boobs and laughing while we do it.
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