Posted on Friday, 23rd September 2011 by Jana Sanders
WASHINGTON —The home-buying season was a bust.
March through August are typically the peak buying months. But this time, Americans bought fewer new homes in that stretch than in any other six-month period since record-keeping began a half-century ago.
For homes included in the Abilene multiple listing service — mostly previously-owned homes — sales were down to their lowest level since 2003.
Data on sales of newly constructed home sales aren’t available for Abilene, but experts have noted that Texas in general has not been affected by plunging home values seen in other states.
Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes nearly matched 2009′s total for the peak buying months. And that was the worst since 1997.
Combined, total sales nationally this spring and summer were the weakest on records dating to 1963. The figures underscore how badly the housing market is faring and suggest that a recovery is years away.
Because the economy is barely growing and unemployment exceeds 9 percent, many people see a home purchase as too big a risk. Some worry about losing their jobs. Others can’t afford the 20 percent down payment that most lenders now require.
Not even shrunken home prices and the lowest mortgage rates in six decades are convincing would-be buyers.
“The job engine has really sputtered out, and without jobs, Americans really can’t purchase homes,” said Celia Chen, a housing economist at Moody’s Analytics.
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