How many percentage points did home sales drop in the month of December?
Sales of existing US homes plunged in December, exposing the fragility of the housing recovery and its dependence on government stimulus. Existing home sales fell 16.7 percent last month, according to a survey released Monday by the National Association of Realtors. The report showed that 5.45 million existing homes were sold last month, down from 6.54 million in November. Economists had expected sales to decrease at a slower rate of 11.6 percent. The figures for December represent the sharpest one-month fall in existing home sales on records dating back to 1968, and threw the home resale rate back down to the level it reached in August. Existing home sales had risen consecutively for the previous three months, largely as a result of the expected expiration of the Obama administration’s first-time home buyer tax credit. The federal program, which offered new home buyers a credit of $8,000, was scheduled to expire at the end of November, but the Obama administration announced late last
December home sales down nearly 17 percent. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_home_sales December home sales down nearly 17 percent By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – Mon Jan 25, 12:32 pm ET WASHINGTON – Sales of previously occupied homes took the largest monthly drop in more than 40 years last month, sinking more dramatically than expected after lawmakers gave buyers additional time to use a tax credit. The report reflects a sharp drop in demand after buyers stopped scrambling to qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homeowners. It had been due to expire on Nov. 30. But Congress extended the deadline until April 30 and expanded it with a new $6,500 credit for existing homeowners who move. “It’s ‘exit stage left’ for first-time homebuyers,” wrote Guy LeBas, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott. December’s sales fell 16.7
New home sales unexpectedly fell 7.6 percent last month, capping the industry’s weakest year on record. The Commerce Department said December sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000 from an upwardly revised November pace of 370,000. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast a pace of 370,000 for December.
