Skip navigation
Watchlist Sponsored By :


Current DateTime: 07:49:04 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24355697
  • Runway Angels

      The superbowl of fashion shows, models walk down the runway at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Show.

  • Smartphone Guide

      Here's a need-to-know guide to nine devices, based on features, price, network and platform.

  • Wines for the Holidays

      Not quite sure what wine to pair with Turkey or Creme Brulee? Our experts do.

FEATURED QUIZZES


Current DateTime: 07:49:04 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 33793611
  • How Well Do You Know Your Bird?

      Let's talk turkey. Test your turkey knowledge and perhaps pick up a bit of trivia to trot out at your holiday meal.

  • A Healthier & Wealthier You

      Take the following quiz and find out how much you know about the impact of obesity on the health of the U.S. economy.

  • The Billionaire BFF's

      Philanthropists. Bridge partners. Hockey players. Which responses are based on facts from Buffett's and Gates' real lives?


Current DateTime: 07:49:04 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24890560
  • Winterizing Your Portfolio

      If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

  • Investor's Guide to Real Estate

      Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.

  • Alternative Investing

      Stocks and bonds? Sure. But it's a big world out there for investors.

powered by digg
Home Sales Climb In April But Remain at Weak Levels
By: CNBC.com With Wires | 27 May 2008 | 09:39 AM ET
Text Size

Sales of new homes rose in April for the first time in six months although the unexpected increase still left activity near the lowest level in 17 years.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that sales of new homes rose 3.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 units.
AP

But the government revised March activity lower to show an even bigger drop of 11 percent to an annual rate of 509,000, which was the weakest pace for sales since April 1991.

Economists believe that new home sales will remain weak for some time as the housing industry struggles with falling prices and rising mortgage foreclosures, which are dumping even more homes on an already glutted market.

The Commerce report showed that the median price of a new home sold in April dropped to $246,100 in April, down 4.2 percent from April 2007.

A separate report showed home prices falling during the first three months of this year at the sharpest rate in two decades.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the biggest year-over-year decline since the index began in 1988.

The Commerce report on new home sales showed the April rebound was led by a huge 41.7 percent surge in sales in the Northeast.

'Fast Money' Web Exclusive:

Sales were up 8.3 percent in the West and 5.8 percent in the Midwest.

The only region which saw a decline in sales in April was the South, where sales fell by 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged a record 14.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, marking a pace five times faster than the last housing recession, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index reported on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.2 percent in March from February and plummeted 14.4 percent from March 2007.

Economists expected prices for the 20-city index to fall 2.0 percent on month and 14.0 percent from a year earlier, according to a median in a Reuters survey.

"There are very few silver linings that one can see in the data," David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee, said in a statement.

Falling home prices have become the scourge of the housing market that is seeing its worst downturn since the 1930s. Home values since last year have been dropping below balances owed on many mortgages, leaving borrowers with no equity and more likely to succumb to foreclosure.

The crisis in foreclosures, which pressure prices even lower, has spurred numerous plans by regulators and lawmakers that aim to keep borrowers in their homes by forgiving a portion of their loan's principle.

Housing markets that grew the most during the housing boom, such as Las Vegas, Nevada and Miami, Florida, are leading the decline, S&P said.

S&P said its composite index of 10 metropolitan areas declined 2.4 percent in March, for a record 15.3 percent year-over-year drop.

--AP and Reuters contributed to this report.

© 2009 CNBC.com
Tools:
Print EmailAdd This share icon
  • digg share

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
  • People who bottle up their anger at work are up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack, a study found.
  • Playboy Logo
  • Playboy will outsource its publishing operations in a bid to become profitable again.
  • After nine years the NBA’s minor league equivalent is finally coming into its own.
  • Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
  • For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 05:21:40 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:02:04 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 02:05:46 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 01:02:04 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters