New U.S. home sales fell 9% in November, down a record 34.3% for the year ended Nov. 30, the Commerce Department reported today.
Earlier this week, Standard & Poor’s reported that its Case-Shiller index, which monitors home prices in 10 major U.S. cities, fell 6.7% in October, also a record drop.
“Both the near-term and longer-term outlook for the housing market remains clouded amid a severe downturn in home starts, sales and prices that has become national in scope,” Merrill Lynch analyst David Rosenberg wrote in a note to clients.
The U.K. housing market is also showing signs of weakness. The U.K.’s Nationwide Building Society today reported that house prices fell 0.5% in December, after dropping 0.8% in November.
