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US existing home sales decline in August on tighter mortgage credit conditions |
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FXstreet.com (Barcelona) – Existing home sales have posted a larger than expected decline in August, reversing gains posted on the previous month, weighed by tighter mortgage credit activity, according to figures released by the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of existing homes have declined 2.2% in August to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.91 million in August from the upwardly revised 5.02 million annual rate posted in July. Year on year, existing home sales have declined 10.7% from the 5.50 million units pace posted in August 2007.
According to NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, the tightening of credit condions are one of the main factors to explain August’s decline: “The difficulty in obtaining a mortgage increased over past couple months, making it more challenging for creditworthy borrowers to find financing,” he said. “Our hope is that overly tight lending criteria can be loosened with reasonable standards and credit so that sales activity can catch up with demand. Interest rates have already declined, but there is a serious question as to whether a cash infusion by the U.S. Treasury into Wall Street would help consumers by improving mortgage funding.”
Posted originally: 9/24/2008 2:14:00 PM
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