现房销售见长，价格继续下跌
2008年3月24日。据美国房产经纪协会消息二月份现房销售见长，但价格比一年前创纪录下滑，
美国房产经纪协会说，二月份现房交易上涨是自去年七月份以来的第一次。2%的增长率是一年中最大增幅。经济学家曾预计小幅下降。
价格是自1968年以来最大幅的下滑。协会说中等房屋降了8.2%，达到195，900美元。
房产经纪集团首席经济学家劳伦斯.允说在一些加利福尼亚和佛罗里达的热点市场，卖主为了吸引买主出现了大幅降价。
分析学家谨慎看待仅仅一个月的销售上涨，许多经济学家预言价格进一步下滑，大量积压的房屋数量下降。房地产不景气，下滑的情况持续到下半年才会好转。
劳伦斯.允说下半年以前我们没有指望大幅增长，但二月份的增长是市场平稳的信号。
就全国区域来讲，东北部销售增长11.3%，中西部2.5%，南部2.1%。唯一下降的地区是西部，下降了1.1%。

新房的销售数据商务部会在下周公布。

Existing Home Sales Rises;Prices Continue to Fall
March 24,2008. Sales of existing homes rose in February, but prices suffered a record drop from levels one years ago,according to a realtors association.
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes rose in February for the first time since July.The 2.9 percent increase in sales was the biggest in a year .Economists had expected a small decline.
Prices continued to drop in the biggest decline on record,dating back to 1968.The association said median home prices fell 8.2 percent to $195,900.
Lawrence yun ,chief economist for the realtors group,said prices in some formerly hot markets in California and florida are seeing significant price declines as sellers try to attract buyers.
Analysts cautioned against reading too much into the one-month rise in sales.Many economists predict that the steep slump in housing will not bottom out until later this year,after prices fall farther and allow huge levels of unsold inventories to be reduced.
"We are not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year,but the (February)improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing,"Yun said.
By region of the country ,sales surged by 11.3 percent in the Northeast and were up 2.5 percent in the Midwest and 2.1 percent in the South.The only region of the country to see a decline in sales was the West,which dropped by 1.1 percent.
Sales figures on new homes are due out later this week by the Commerce Department.