March home sales up, not first-time buys
WASHINGTON -- Investors lifted U.S. home sales last month, using cash to grab cheap homes at risk of foreclosure. But purchases made by first-time home buyers fell, a troubling sign for the weak housing market.
Sales of previously occupied homes rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That's a 3.7 percent increase from the February pace but far below the 6 million homes a year that economists say represents a healthy market.
Foreclosures or short sales -- when the lender agrees to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage -- rose to make up 40 percent of all purchases. Sales among first-time buyers fell to 33 percent in March. -- AP
'He will be ... coming out of prison in a body bag' Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. spoke with NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa about what life is like for the Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann in jail.
'He will be ... coming out of prison in a body bag' Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr. spoke with NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa about what life is like for the Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann in jail.
