31.03.2011 - America's housing market is in the doldrums
If America's housing market acts as a bellwether for its economy, then new monthly data released on March 29th by Standard & Poor's makes for particularly glum reading. The ten-city composite index fell by an annual rate of 2.7% in January—it is now over 30% below its April 2006 peak. House prices in 12 of the 20 cities tracked by Standard & Poor's fell in January and only two cities, Washington and San Diego, recorded gains on the previous year. However, as discussed in our Free Exchange blog, the data could include sales that may have gone under contract as early as September but have yet to complete, and since then a second dose of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve has strengthened the outlook for the US economy.............................................Full Article: Source
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