Significant Drop-Off In Home Sales Figures

A significant drop in home sales figures was recorded last month following the expiration of the federal home-buyers tax credit, sparking new fears of the real estate market stalling, and the potential impact this will have on the process of economic recovery. Although a reduction in home sales figures had been anticipated, the actual figures recorded were significantly lower than predicted, fuelling new fears that the American economy may be heading towards a Double-Dip recession.

Figures released by the National Association of Realtors indicated that home sales fell 27.2 percent across the US in comparison to the previous month, a significantly larger margin than had been predicted by industry experts. These figures also indicated that sales for single family homes were particularly badly affected, with current figures being on par with the lowest recorded figures on record in the latter part of this decade.

Industry experts highlighted the need for successful governmental intervention in order to prevent the real estate market from stalling, due to the potentially catastrophic impact that would have  on the US economy, but acknowledged the difficulty of this task. Nigel Gault, the Chief US Economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, commented on the situation, “Clearly the housing stimulus was a waste of time, just shifting demand around. There may be some broader fixes that could improve the housing market, but we’ve had no success in finding it.”