US new home sales surge in March (suicide watch initiated at Reuters)

Reuters ^ | 04-25-03

[Brian S]

Fri April 25, 2003 10:05 AM ET

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Americans bought far more new homes than expected in March, a government report showed on Friday, as homebuyers took advantage of some of the lowest mortgage rates since the 1960s.

New home sales rose 7.3 percent to a 1.012 million unit annual rate last month, the Commerce Department said, exceeding analyst expectations for an 898,000 sales pace.

That followed a revised 3.3 percent drop in February. Commerce said there were more late home sales in that month than the department estimated, leading to the change from a previously reported drop of 8.1 percent.

Home sales in the Northeast of the country soared 82.5 percent, the largest rise since April 1993, while the sales rate in the South set a new record.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Real-estate is the only safe game in town.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Love the headline tag!

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Woo, Hoo!!!! More great news for the economy! The democRATs are hating it!

Now if the idiots in my county government would build the roads to carry all of the traffic from the new development...

[Wright is right!]

All of the evening news shows will paint this as "bad news for the economy," since these new homeowners will have little left after their transactions to spend on other consumer items. They will also manage to find home buyers who took their money OUT of 401(k) plans to use as down payments, because of "fears about the economy."

I should write for these guys. I know their template designs perfectly.

Michael

[the Deejay]

How can that be!? All I keep hearing about is how many people are out of work!

[epluribus_2]

as signs of the long recovering economy take hold, it will be morbidly fun to watch the fear seize hold over the news media and the DNC in particular. Some top DNC officials are probably just now coming out of rehab treatment from November 2002, too. So sad.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Real-estate is the only safe game in town.

You've got that right. With the power of leverage one could have made 20 times on their money over the past three years. My properties pretty much doubled in value. Well, up 80% actually. Although, real estate is cyclical like all other investments. It will probably be flat for quite a few years after the big run-up. Won't drop like stocks do though. (Yes, you might be able to point out two examples in the U.S. where that has happened but I'm talking in general.)

[epluribus_2]

because of "fears about the economy." they will say "fears upon the uncertain economic future", just to hammer home how risky and doubtful continuing Republican government and Bush in particular is perceived by all. (or should be)

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

All I keep hearing about is how many people are out of work!

Out of work lounging around in their new houses watching Ophra and eating Bon Bons...

[ricpic]

Nothing like strong new home sales to kickstart the economy. The ripple effects are treemoundous!

[TheBigB]

You forgot to mention that all of the people who sold those homes are now, at least temporarily, "homeless." Expect Derrick Z. Jackson and Robert Kuttner to blame Bush for the months's "surging homeless population."

[freeper12]

>>Real-estate is the only safe game in town.

Isn't that what everyone thought about the stock-market a few years back?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Luv your tag.

[nemo]

Everyone felt the same way about Nasdaq stocks in 1999.

[lewislynn]

Home sales in the Northeast of the country soared 82.5 percent, the largest rise since April 1993, while the sales rate in the South set a new record.

I think someone got their decimal point in the wrong place.

[epluribus_2]

Reporter: Mr Daschle? Are you Deeply Saddened?

Former Senate Leader: Aww, just go to H3ll!

[LS]

It's more than that, but I had predicted for some time that we would see a housing boom based on the HORRIBLE weather in the midwest and east for Jan-Feb.

[TheBigB]

Thank you. :)

[JIM O]

7.3% increase in people forced to put their furniture in trucks during March!