Home sales fell in Aug. in Pinal County, the US
Plummeting inventories are primary cause
Casa Grande Dispatch
A home for sale in Maricopa, AZ for $174,000/Zillow
Americans and Pinal County residents retreated from home-buying in August as a worsening inventory shortage appears to be hurting sales.
Housing has been a bright spot amid weak economic growth for much of this year. Sales totals continue to recover from the Great Recession. Buyers increasingly have pristine credit. But the primary weakness in housing has been a lack of properties for sale, a reflection of the lingering damage caused by the housing bubble that began to burst nearly a decade ago.
Sales of existing homes slipped 0.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million, the second straight monthly decline, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The monthly setbacks happened after a period of steady gains that have lifted home sales up 3 percent so far this year. Historically low mortgage rates have combined with an improved job market to bolster demand from possible buyers.
