Existing home sales could hit 5-year low
January 14, 2010 Information, Updates No Comments
Realtors forecast for year sees the outlook worsening in 2008
WASHINGTON – Sales of existing homes in the U.S. are forecast to decline to a five-year low in 2007, a trade group for real estate agents said Tuesday, and the outlook for 2008 is worsening.
The ninth-straight downwardly revised monthly forecast from the National Association of Realtors calls for U.S. existing home sales to fall 12.7 percent this year to 5.66 million, down from 6.48 million last year.
Last month, the association predicted a 10.8 percent drop from a year ago.
This year’s sales would be the lowest since 2002, when sales hit 5.63 million. The Realtors group forecasts sales will rise slightly next year to 5.69 million, but that is down from last month’s prediction of 6.12 million.