Michael Blog

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 3.83 million was 25.5 percent below the level of July a year ago.

July was the first month that buyers could not qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000, so analysts were expecting weak results. But their consensus called for a decline of about 13 percent.

Jennifer H. Lee, senior economist for BMO Capital Markets, called the numbers “truly gut-wrenching.”

Those on the front lines of real estate describe an absolute standoff between buyers and sellers.

“What few buyers are out there circle a listing like a vulture, waiting from the day of its debut until it’s left for dead, contacting us only after it has left the market to ask what it sold for and whether it’s taking backup offers,” said Glenn Kelman, chief executive of the online brokerage Redfin.

Mr. Kelman noted that what made the sales drop “even more breathtaking” was that it was happening in July, a month when demand typically peaks.

“Prices will have to drop again in most markets before buyers come back in force,” Mr. Kelman said, “and so sales volume will probably be in the tank at least until next spring.”

Housing prices have been relatively stable for most of the last 12 months. But even before the July drop in sales, analysts were expecting prices to fall another 5 or 10 percent this winter.

July sales were down 27.2 percent from June. It was the lowest rate for existing-home sales, which include houses, condos, co-ops and town houses, since 1999. For sales of single-family homes, it was the lowest rate since 1995.

商務部昨天才公佈7月份成屋銷售銳減27.2%。成屋和新屋銷售都大跌，顯示美國經濟復甦遲緩，已導致房市低迷不振。

市場專家原預期7月份新屋銷售可微幅成長到34萬5000戶，未料卻大幅下挫。

專家分析，高失業率和信貸緊縮，是房市不振的主因，而歐巴馬政府推出的購屋減稅刺激房市措施於4月底結束，則是造成成屋和新屋銷售量驟減的近因。

專家指出，房子滯銷，建商自然減少蓋新屋；減少蓋新屋的結果，就減少了工作機會；工作機會流失，失業率增加，民眾更不敢買房子，惡性循環於是產生。

　全國住宅建商協會（NAHB）指出，每蓋一戶新屋，平均可製造3個人1年的就業機會和9萬美元稅收。因此房市停滯將直接影響經濟復甦的速度。