Glut of unsold homes worries Wall Street
WASHINGTON -- Sales of existing homes dropped for a fifth straight month in July while the number of unsold homes shot up to a record level.
Many analysts said the worst slump in housing in 16 years is likely to deepen in coming months, reflecting the recent turmoil in credit markets, which has caused lenders to tighten their standards.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing homes dipped by 0.2 percent in July, compared to June, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units.
On Wall Street, stocks retreated on Monday after the housing report renewed concerns about the strength of the economy.
Economists said the report signaled further trouble given a big jump in the inventory of unsold homes, which rose by 5.1 percent to a record level of 4.59 million homes.
Based on the July sales pace, it would take 9.2 months to exhaust the number of single-family homes on the market, the highest level in nearly 16 years, and 11.9 months to exhaust the level of condominiums on the market. The month's supply of condos sitting on the market is 45.1 percent higher than a year ago.
The rising glut of unsold homes is putting downward pressure on prices. The median price of a home sold last month slid to $230,200, down by 0.6 percent from the median price a year ago. It marked the 12th consecutive month that home prices have declined, a record stretch.
The median price of an existing home, the point where half of homes sold for more and half for less, has now fallen every month for a year, something that has not occurred before on Realtors' records going back to 1969.
The deep slump in housing, combined with recent severe turmoil in financial markets, has raised worries about a possible recession. But many economists believe the Federal Reserve will ward off a full-blown downturn by reducing a key short-term interest rate should financial market conditions fail to stabilize.
"We are literally swimming in an ocean of homes for sale," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research Inc. "Until we work through this extremely large inventory glut, we're not going to see any momentum in home prices."