http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2011-12-23/new-home-sales/52187902/1
New home sales rose in November from October, but 2011 will likely end up as the worst year for sales in history.
The Commerce Department says new-home sales rose 1.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000. That’s less than half the 700,000 new homes that economists say should be sold to sustain a healthy housing market.
It’s also below the 323,000 homes sold last year — worst year for sales on records dating back to 1963.
New homes account for just a fraction of the housing market, but they have a big impact on the economy. Each new home built creates roughly three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.Economists say housing is a long way from fully recovering. Builders have stopped working on many projects because it’s been hard for them to get financing or to compete with cheaper resale homes. For many Americans, buying a home remains too big a risk more than four years after the housing bubble burst.