Bright spots amid battered housing market

NEW YORK - June 27 2008 - The country is still in the throes of the worst U.S. housing market downturn since World War Two, but glimmers of hope emerged amid a deluge of data this week.

The median national home price sank further in May and inventories linger at record-high levels, but some of the data suggests the flood of bad news may be leveling off.

The fate of housing is integral to the U.S. economy, and after the market’s downfall severely sapped growth in recent quarters, any signs of recovery could also signal a turnaround for the world’s largest economy.

The Federal Reserve is also concerned. In its latest policy statement published on Wednesday, the central bank cited the “ongoing housing contraction” as one of several factors likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters.

The median home price sank 6.3 percent from a year ago in May, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Thursday, yet existing-home sales rose 2 percent and pushed the inventory of unsold homes down by 1.4 percent to a 10.8 months’ supply at the current sales pace.

Bright spots amid battered housing market
by Julie Haviv | Reuters