Sales Down for New US Homes, but Up for Existing Ones

Sales Down for New US Homes, but Up for Existing Ones
Falling prices lead to unexpected piece of good news for the housing market. Also, J.P. Morgan raises its offer for Bear Stearns. Transcript of radio broadcast:
27 March 2008

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes in the United States increased almost three percent in February. It was the first increase since last July.


But fueling that increase was a drop in prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of twenty major markets showed that home prices fell almost two and a half percent in January. Prices were down almost eleven percent from a year before.
And still another report this week showed that sales of new single-family houses fell in February. Sales were down almost two percent from January, to a thirteen-year low. The Commerce Department estimated there was a ten-month supply of newly built houses waiting to be sold.

Experts say prices in many markets will have to fall further before more people are willing or able to buy.

Prices went up and up in recent years, before the housing bubble burst. Many buyers now struggling to make payments took out loans that were too big. They thought prices would keep rising and they could sell their home for a nice profit.

Rising values meant that people could also take out home equity loans and lines of credit. They used their home as a cash machine by borrowing against its value.

Now, as those values fall, some people owe more than their home is worth. Many buyers, often with risky credit histories, took out adjustable-rate mortgages, which started out low but later reset to higher rates.

About two percent of all home loans are in foreclosure. Of course, that means ninety-eight percent of homes are not being reclaimed by lenders. Still, this is the highest rate since the Mortgage Bankers Association began keeping records in nineteen seventy-nine.

The weak housing market is largely responsible for an economic crisis that is leading to new government steps in the financial system.

Last week, the Federal Reserve pushed through a deal for J.P. Morgan Chase to buy Bear Stearns for two dollars a share. Bear, the nation's fifth-largest investment bank, was near collapse after big losses on its mortgage-backed securities. To help make the deal, the Fed agreed to take responsibility for up to thirty billion dollars in those securities.

But J.P. Morgan faced a rebellion by Bear shareholders, so this week it increased its offer to ten dollars a share. It also agreed to take responsibility for one billion dollars of Bear's hard-to-sell securities.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

----------------------------Google Translate

销售额下降，为美国的新家园，但对于现有的
价格下跌导致意想不到的喜讯，为房地产市场。另外， JP摩根提高其收购报价为Bear Stearns公司。全文电台广播：
2008年3月27日

这是美国之音特别英语经济学报告。

这个星期，全国房地产经纪人协会报告说，现房销售，在美国增加了近三个百分点，在二月份。这是第一次增加，自去年7月。


但加油站增加是价格下降。标准普尔/案例希勒指数第二十六主要市场表明，住房价格下跌了将近两年半％ 。价格均下跌近11 ％ ，从一年前。
还有另一份报告本星期显示，五月份新单户住宅下跌，在2月。销量下降了差不多两成，从1月至13年来新低纪录。美国商业部估计，有一个10个月的供给新建的房屋有待出售。

专家们说，价格在许多市场将会有进一步下跌之前，有更多人愿意或有能力购买。

价格上升，并在近几年前，房市泡沫破裂。很多买家现在挣扎，使金拿出贷款人也实在太大了。他们认为价格将继续上升，他们可以出售自己在家办了一个不错的获利。

增加值是指人们还可以购买房屋净值贷款和信贷限额。他们用自己的家作为出纳机由借贷反对它的价值。

现在，当这些价值下降，有些人欠多，他们家是值得的。很多买家，往往与高风险的信贷历史，拿出了浮动利率抵押贷款，它开始走出低，但后来复位，以更高的利率。

约两成的所有住房贷款是在赎。当然，这意味着98 ％的家庭并没有被领回的，由贷款人。还有，这是最高利率以来，美国抵押贷款银行协会开始保存记录，在1979年。

疲弱的房屋市场，主要是负责经济危机，这是导致新的政府措施，在金融体制。

上周，美国联邦储备委员会推动通过一项协议，为JP摩根大通银行收购熊士坦为两美元的份额。熊，全美第五大投资银行，已接近崩溃后的大损失，它的按揭证券。有助于使处理，美联储同意承担责任了，以30亿美元的证券。

不过， JP摩根面临叛乱承担股东，因此，本周它增加优惠到10美元之间。它也同意承担责任，为10.0亿美元的紧的努力，至卖出证券。

这也是该美国之音特别英语经济学报告，写马里奥里特尔。我史蒂夫Ember公司。