U.S. Housing Recovery Delayed to 2010 as Market Wanes (Update2)
A recovery in U.S. housing will have to wait at least until next year.
U.S. companies have shed 7.3 million jobs since December 2007, the biggest contraction since the Great Depression, and the unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest since 1983, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Existing home prices probably will fall 12 percent this year to a median of $173,800, while the new-home median likely will tumble 8.7 percent to $212,000, according to a forecast on Fannie Mae’s Web site. Combined sales of new and existing properties probably will drop 0.7 percent to 5.36 million, even with the federal tax credit, after plunging 16 percent last year.