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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: StanX Long who wrote (61082)	2/28/2002 1:35:03 AM
From: StanX Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

New home sales plunge host.wallstreetcity.com WASHINGTON, Feb 27, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales of new single-family homes posted their largest decline in 8 years during January, falling 14.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 823,000 units -- its lowest level since June 2000. Most economists on Wall Street were expecting new home sales to decline by only 1.1 percent after rising 5.7 percent in December and 5.2 percent in November of last year. New home sales account for about 15 percent of all houses on the market. The sector had shown some signs of moderation in recent months as falling mortgage rates attracted homebuyers. Mortgage interest rates have been hovering around the key 7 percent level after peaking in May 2000 and analysts believe the recent declines in mortgage rates should prop up sales in the months ahead. The Commerce Department said by region sales fell 22.1 percent in the South to an annual pace of 353,000 units during the month. Sales fell 17.0 percent in the West to an annual rate of 235,000 units and slipped 0.6 percent in the Midwest to an annual rate of 162,000 units. The report showed sales jumped 8.9 percent in the Northeast to 73,000 homes at an annual rate. The government said the median price of new homes rose 5.7 percent in January to $183,400 from $173,500 in December.