Home Sales Hit Nadir

The American housing crisis shows few signs of abating. The National Association of Realtors released figures earlier today that show Americans are able resell fewer and fewer homes than ever before.

Over the course of 2008, the number of non-new one-family homes sold across America has decreased by 15.5%. Since 2005, the highest point of the housing bubble, that figure has fallen by 33%. During the month of June, that number had decreased by 2.6%, a very high loss for only one month. If the June rate of US homes sold continued for over a period of one year, it would amount to 4.86 million non-new homes sold–the lowest number of non-new homes sold in ten years.

At the same time, average home prices have decreased by 6.1% over the course of 2008. Currently, the average home sells for $215,100, says the report from the National Association of Realtors.

Conversely, the number of homes left unsold has increased by 0.25 this year. Currently, there are 4.49 million houses on the market without a buyer. At the current annual rate of homes sold, it will take almost a year to find buyers for all the unsold houses remaining on the market right now. The number of unsold houses on the market right now is the highest it’s been since the 1980’s.

Meanwhile, the US Census Bureau has released data of its own today, complementing the disappointing statistics from the National Association of Realtors. According to the US Census Bureau, there are 6.1 million empty houses without a buyer in America right now. Approximately 10% of the houses constructed during the past ten years to be sold have no one living in them right now. Over 25% of the houses and apartment complexes, built to be rented out, have no one living in them.

“We are faced with a considerable excess of housing units that is only likely to worsen over the coming quarters, and for which there is no quick solution,” Economic expert Richard Moody explains.

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