Housing market still in the doldrums as home sales slide

Housing Market Still Weak

The U.S. housing market continues to have the malaise that triggered the recession as the latest report from the National Association of Realtors showed that home sales dipped to its lowest level since November last year.

Tuesday's report showed that home sales slid for the second straight month to 3.8 percent month-on-month, to an annualized rate of 4.81 million units.

The drop was smaller than forecast and was expected after multiple disasters such as flooding and tornadoes hit parts of the U.S. Midwest and the South.

At the latest rate, it would take 9.3 months to clear the inventory of owned-homes on the housing market.

The dismal figures are the latest indicator to come up on the state of the economy. The second quarter data on factory activity, retail sales and unemployment reveals an economic recovery very much at a turtle's pace.

Yet economists are still hopeful that things will pick up overall during the second half of this year.

Stocks rose because of the less-than-expected drop in home sales and the housing market remaining practically stagnant instead of further weakening, and also due to the news of the Greek bailout plan calming the markets.

The housing market as well as other facets of the economy are expected to recover eventually as the Federal Reserve considers the current jitters as temporary. Officials are set to convene a meeting to assess the recovery.

Among all sectors of the economy, the housing market has fared badly, hit hardest by the 9.1 percent unemployment rate and the wave of foreclosures.

Posted by James Fried on Thursday June 23 2011, 4:49 AM EST. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Finance. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0