This kind of news demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between the mortgage industry and the real estate industry – what affects one affects both – and strongly suggests if not demands that our two industries collaborate more closely on everything from supply/demand forecasting, collateral valuation methodologies and signals of fraud.
“March 24 (Bloomberg) — Sales of existing houses in the U.S. probably fell in February to the lowest level in at least nine years, economists said ahead of a private report today. Purchases dropped 0.8 percent to an annual rate of 4.85 million, according to the median of 63 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. That would be the fewest since the National Association of Realtors began keeping records in 1999. The real estate slump will persist as a glut of houses on the market depresses property values and lenders toughen mortgage requirements to stem credit losses. The Federal Reserve last week said the outlook had worsened and pledged to do whatever was needed to keep the economy growing.
“We expect both purchasing activity and pricing to fall for the remainder of the year,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal Inc. in New York.
The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to issue its report at 10 a.m. in Washington. Estimates in the Bloomberg News survey showed sales rates ranging from 4.69 million to 4.9 million.”
Click here to read the full story at Bloomberg: U.S. Home Resales Probably Fell as Prices Slid, Credit Shrank.
