WASHINGTON – May 17, 2011 – Construction of new homes dropped in April, another troubling sign for the battered housing market.
Builders broke ground on 10.6 percent fewer new homes last month from the previous month. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 523,000 homes per year, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That’s down nearly 25 percent from one year ago and less than half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists consider a sign of a healthy market.
Tighter lending standards and high unemployment are weighing on the housing sector, which is in the midst of one of its worst years in history.
Builders are also struggling to compete with millions of foreclosures, which are forcing down prices for previously occupied homes. The median price of a new home was about 34 percent higher in March than the median price for a resale. That’s more than twice the markup in healthy housing markets.
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http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=5&id=260018
Builders broke ground on 10.6 percent fewer new homes last month from the previous month. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 523,000 homes per year, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That’s down nearly 25 percent from one year ago and less than half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists consider a sign of a healthy market.
Tighter lending standards and high unemployment are weighing on the housing sector, which is in the midst of one of its worst years in history.
Builders are also struggling to compete with millions of foreclosures, which are forcing down prices for previously occupied homes. The median price of a new home was about 34 percent higher in March than the median price for a resale. That’s more than twice the markup in healthy housing markets.
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Read More
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=5&id=260018
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