July 24, 2008 at 11:00 am by Tom Lydon
Some stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are trading lower today after existing home sales fell in June.
The 2.6% drop was more than twice what had been expected, reports Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. Sales are also 15.5% below what they were a year ago.
Prices are continuing to slide, too: the median price for a home sold last month was $215,100, off by 6.1% from a year ago. It’s the fifth-largest year-over-year price drop on record.
Last week, it was announced that single-family homebuilding lost 5.3% in June.
On the upside, one economist feels that the housing rescue bill should help the housing market bounce back. The tax break it includes for first-time homebuyers could help sales.
Home construction and real estate ETFs are trading lower this morning on the news:
- iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB), down 5.7% year-to-date
- SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB), down2.4% year-to-date
- DJ Wilshire REIT (RWR), down 3.7% year-to-date
- Vanguard REIT Vipers (VNQ), down 4.2% year-to-date
- iShares FTSE NAREIT Residential Index Fund (REZ), down 17.5% year-to-date
Tags | Homebuilders, ITB, Media, Real Estate, REZ, RWR, VNQ, XHB
