Home sales up 7.6% in August

Related
Chart: Home sales rise

By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
September 23, 2010|7:52 a.m.

Sales of U.S. homes rose 7.6% in August -- recovering from their steep descent in July, when the end of a popular government stimulus program drove sales to their lowest levels in more than a decade.

Previously owned homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million units in August from an upwardly revised 3.84 million in July. That pace remains 19% below the August 2009 pace.

"The reality is that home-buying activity is still at an incredibly low level and will only increase modestly from here," said Paul Dales, U.S. economist with the research firm Capital Economics. "Home sales were only able to rise by this much in August because they had fallen so far in the months after the home-buyer tax credit expired."

Total housing inventory at the end of August slipped 0.6% to 3.98 million homes available for sale, representing a nearly 12-month supply at the current pace.

alejandro.lazo@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0 ... 3328.story