Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than 5 years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading too

admin2022-07-29  65

问题     Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than 5 years in September. But analysts cautioned against reading too much into the gain, noting that it reflected conditions before the latest upheaval in financial markets increased the likelihood of a recession in the overall economy.
    The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes rose by 5.5 percent from August to September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units—far better than the depressed results analysts had expected. On an unadjusted basis, sales were up 7.8 percent from September last year.
    But even with the gain in sales, prices kept falling. But analysts said that the current financial crisis, which has contributed to the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the 1930s, was sending consumer confidence down, unemployment up and had greatly increased the prospects that the country was either in or about to enter a full-blown recession. All these factors were expected to add to the headwinds hitting housing in the months ahead.
    "In October, mortgage applications sank to six-year lows," said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. "This suggests house sales, like the rest of the economy, fell off a cliff because of the worsening credit crunch."
    Many analysts are predicting that home prices already down 18 percent nationally from their peak in mid-2006—could decline another 10 percent, as a continued glut of foreclosed homes being poured into the market depresses prices further.
    The National Association of Realtors estimated that 35 percent to 40 percent of sales currently are distressed sales—either foreclosed homes or short sales in which the owner is selling the house for less than the value of the mortgage.
    Distressed sales are having a big impact in lowering prices in some formerly red-hot sales markets in such regions as the West, where sales prices fell in September by 18.5 percent from a year ago.
    Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, said there were some glimmers of hope that the bottom of the housing slump may be near. He said a sales turnaround first seen in California was beginning to broaden to other regions of the country including Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Rhode Island.
What can be inferred from Sal Guatieri’s comments?

选项 A、House sales worsened other sections of the economy.
B、The credit crunch worsened the whole economy.
C、House sales resulted in the worsening credit crunch.
D、Mortgage applications have been felling for 6 years.

答案B

解析 本题关键词是人名Sal Guatieri,问题是:从萨尔.高迪瑞的评论中我们可以得出什么推论?答案可以定位到第四段。根据第四段第二句话,像经济的其他方面一样,房屋销售也因恶化的信贷紧缩(the worsening credit crunch)而行情暴跌,也就是说信贷紧缩导致整个经济恶化,因此,迎与原文为含义相同,为正确答案。也就是说,房屋销售和经济的其他方面同样都因为信贷紧缩而恶化,所以,选项A为无中生有,选项C为正反混淆。从第四段第一句话可知,10月份的按揭贷款申请降至六年来的最低,但并不意味着六年来按揭贷款申请一直在下降,所以选项D为主观推导。第二段:现有住房的销售情况比分析人士的萧条预测好很多。第三段:金融危机产生的影响预计会在未来几个月里加剧对房地产的打击。第四段:信贷紧缩使房屋销售行情暴跌。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/pfjRFFFM
0

最新回复(0)