From the Times of Northwest Indiana – August 24, 2006

Bucking the trend seen in Northwest Indiana, house hunters across the United States shied away from buying in July, driving down sales of previously owned homes to a 2.5-year low. The inventory of unsold homes climbed to a record high.

The figures released Wednesday provided fresh evidence of how much the once-sizzling housing market has cooled.

Prospective home buyers have turned cautious about making such a big-ticket purchase as mortgage rates have gone up and uncertainty has risen over whether the economy and job creation will keep slowing, analysts said.

Existing-home sales dropped 4.1 percent in July from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.33 million units, the National Association of Realtors reported. That was the lowest level since January 2004.

In Northwest Indiana, sales of new and existing homes jumped by 5 percent from a year ago, to hit 755 in Lake and Porter counties combined, according to information from the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.

That could put the region on track for another record year, topping previous high marks set in 2004 and 2005, GNIAR President Nancy Smith said.

“Seven months into it,” Smith said, “we’re still ahead of last year,” when a total 7,942 homes were sold across Northwest Indiana.

Nationally, however, the latest snapshot of housing activity was weaker than analysts anticipated; they were forecasting a sales pace of 6.55 million.

On Wall Street, the housing report rattled investors and pushed stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrials lost 41.94 points to close at 11,297.90.