Posted on February - 25 - 2010
Home sales fall as consumers pinch pennies
Consumer reduction is in full force, new-home sales data indicates.
According to the Commerce Department, sales of new homes dropped 11.2 percent in January to come to an annualized pace of 309,000 – the lowest sales rate in almost 50 years. The news was especially troubling for those in the homebuilding industry, as their business is likely to be hampered by the low demand for reinvigorated homes.
National Association of Home Builders chief economist David Crowe said to the Washington Post that consumers would “like to see better overall signals from the economy in general and the employment market in particular” before pulling the trigger on a home purchase.
Consumers are not at all more willing to buy existing homes, either. The National Association of Realtors reported a month ago that existing-home sales fell 16.7 percent between November and December.
Many Americans’ credit scores and financial lives were damaged by their embrace of easy credit in the intermediate of the continue decade, and few people are opting to purchase a home and take steady the burden of a mortgage.
And, as the home sales data shows, playing it safe is consumers’ preferred strategy at the moment.
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