Sales of new U.S. homes tumble 16.9% to record low

[Skip_In_Boulder]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Sales of new single-family homes collapsed in February, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, as a combination of high unemployment, tumbling prices and a glut of cheaper alternatives brought activity to a near-standstill.

New-home sales fell 16.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000 in February, though January’s figures were revised higher to 301,000 from 284,000. Compared to February 2010, sales collapsed by 28%.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sales-of-new-us-homes-tumble-169-to-record-low-2011-03-23

[RainDog]

1. when you destroy the middle class...

this is the kind of economy you get

[mdmc]

2. show me the middle class

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Too late!

[jschurchin]

4. Could have fooled Wall Street

Market was up big today. The disconnect is not more apparent.

[Turbineguy]

5. Woosies

Whatever happened to "PLUNGED"?

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. The in-style advice now days is that home ownership is a bad idea.

I think that all in all buying a house was the best move I ever made in the long run.

[al_liberal]

7. Well sure

We're going back to the days of tenements and ghettos, you know, corporations get the rent. You can eventually pay off a house, but rent is forever.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

9. Yes you can pay off a house eventually

But since we moved from the 15 year mortgage to the 30 year mortgage, so that people could buy more house than they can actually afford, no one really does pay off there house anymore. They are just perpetually in debt. And that's even before you get to the people who took a home equity line of credit on their house so they could vacation in Barbados.

[1776Forever]

8. Saw a scroll line news blurb on CNN - 20% of Florida homes are vacant. We had a friend tell us a 3

bedroom/2 bath home went for $41,000 near the Space Center in Florida. It was sold 7 years ago for $98,000. Really sad! You can't say this was "over the top" priced at the time! It belonged to a middle-aged contractor with kids. They had to move in with family.

[Moondog]

11. Every time a major space program tanks, residential real estate

within commuting distance of the Cape goes belly up. It has happened before. WIthout a Major Recesssion / Depression. So this isn't new. This time, however, there are no new programs in the pipeline. Houses are going for cheap, cheap, cheap. And it appears they are going to stay that way near there for quite a while.

[taught_me_patience]

10. The demographics for long term housing price appreciation are terrible

Aging population
Low birthrate
low imigration
shrinking middle class
interest rates at all-time lows and cannot go much lower
two income households already the norm

Where's the growth going to come from?