home sales news stories on Newser

Once-Slammed Phoenix Sees Housing Turnaround

John Johnson — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:42:05 CDT

Few cities got hit harder by the bursting real estate bubble than Phoenix, notes the Wall Street Journal , which points out that prices plunged 55% as the foreclosure rate rose to No. 3 in the nation. Despite those bleak stats—or maybe because of them—the city is now enjoying...

Housing Prices Hit New Recession Low

John Johnson — Tue, 31 May 2011 08:36:42 CDT

The housing industry keeps finding new lows: Today's Case-Shiller price index shows that prices fell in the first quarter to the lowest levels since the crash began, reports the Wall Street Journal . The drop of 4.2%, on top of last quarter's 3.6% drop, is evidence of a "double...

Foreclosures Still 'Astronomically High'

Thu, 26 May 2011 12:35:46 CDT

Sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure declined year-over-year in the first quarter, but they still accounted for 28% of all home sales—a share nearly six times higher than what it would be in a healthy housing market. As a slice of all home purchases, foreclosure sales peaked...

Goodbye McMansions, Hello Small Homes

John Johnson — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:58:06 CDT

It's possible that when the housing market finally wakes up from its long recessionary nap, Americans will be just dying to live in newly constructed giant homes again, writes Witold Rybczynski at Slate . "But don't count on it." It's far more likely that we won't see the likes of those...

US Sees Big Shift in Attitude on New Houses

John Johnson — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 10:03:53 CDT

If previous patterns held, sales of new homes would be seeing a healthy bounce right about now, notes the New York Times . After all, the economy is showing a little life, rates are low, and demand has been pent-up for a while. The reality? Sales of new homes were down...

Home Sales Fell 9.6% in February

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:54:05 CDT

Fewer Americans bought previously occupied homes last month, and those who did purchased them at steep discounts. The weak sales and rise in foreclosures pushed home prices down to their lowest level in nearly 9 years. Sales of previously occupied homes fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4....

20 Worst Places to Sell Your House

John Johnson — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 07:00:03 CDT

It's a rough time in general to sell your home, but some places are (far) worse than others. Richard Florida rounds up the 20 worst for the Daily Beast , with nine of the regions in California and six in Florida. Here are the top 5: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif: One of...

Hands Off, Obama: Let Housing Prices Fall

John Johnson — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:07:35 CDT

In case you missed it, be advised that home sales have fallen off a cliff. This week's grim numbers will no doubt raise the call for the Obama administration to reach into its bag of tricks (bring back that tax credit, maybe?) to encourage people to buy and thus keep...

New Home Sales Drop 12.4% in July

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:22:45 CDT

Sales of new US homes dropped sharply last month to the slowest pace on record, the latest sign that the economic recovery is fading. The Commerce Department says new home sales fell 12.4% in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,600....