The American housing market remained in the doldrums last month with house sales at their lowest number for four years. Sales fell 0.3 percent to an annualized 5.99 million units in May, the lowest figure since June 2003. There was also bad news from Lennar, America’s biggest house builder, which announced a $244.2 million loss for the second quarter of 2007. Lennar’s average sales price fell by 7.5 per cent to $298,000.

Lennar’s chief executive, Stuart Miller, said: “As we look to our third quarter and the remainder of 2007, we continue to see weak, and perhaps deteriorating, market conditions. We currently expect to be in a loss position in our third quarter.”

House sales in the United States are now 10% lower than a year ago, when 6.68 million units were sold according to the National Association of Realtors.

The sharp downturn in the housing market, after years of high growth, has shown little sign of bottoming out.

The number of homes for sale rose 5% to a 15-year high of 4.43 million units, almost double the supply from two years ago.
The median price of an US home is now $223,700, 2.1% less than in May 2006.

Southern States
Home sales fell 3.4 percent to annual sales of 2.30 million in May 2007,  11.9 percent less than a year ago. The median price in the South was $184,000, down 3.8 percent from May 2006.

Northeast States
Home sales in the Northeast rose 5.8 percent to 1.10 million, but were 3.5 percent lower than May 2006. The median home price was $282,700, which is 0.5 percent higher than a year ago.

Midwest States
Home sales rose 0.7 percent to 1.41 million, but were 6.6 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $168,800, 1.7 percent below May 2006.

Western States
Home sales in the West slipped 0.8 percent to an annual pace of 1.18 million, 16.3 percent below May 2006. The median price was $341,900, which is 0.5 percent lower than a year ago.