Ahead of the Bell: Existing Home Sales22:00-美國成 屋 銷 售 年 率

BY

A report due Monday is expected to show sales of existing homes inched upward in July, the
first increase after four straight months of declines.

The National Association of Realtors report on U.S. home sales, due out at 22:00 is projected to show sales rose 0.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.76 million units, from 5.75 million units in June, according to the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

If the results meet analysts expectations, it would the second upbeat report in the past two
trading sessions after weeks of bleak housing market data.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that new-home sales rose 2.8 percent in July, after falling 4 percent in June. It was only the second monthly increase in new-home sales this year
and surprised economists, who had been expecting a 1.1 percent drop.

Sales of existing homes, which make up about 85 percent of the residential real estate market, were more than 11 percent below year-ago levels in June. If July s results meet analysts
projections, they will be nearly 9 percent below last year s levels.

The Realtors group projects U.S. home sales will rebound next year after a rough 2007. Earlier
this month, it projected that existing home sales home would fall 6.8 percent this year to 6.04 million, but then rise next year to 6.38 million. This year s sales are expected to be the lowest
since 2002.

Demand for new and existing homes has been hurt by mounting troubles in the mortgage market. Numerous subprime lenders that catered to borrowers with weaker credit have gone
bankrupt amid a spike in defaults.

Total subprime lending was down more than 50 percent in the first half of the year as lenders
pulled back from risky loans.

Countrywide Financial Corp. was the top subprime lender, followed by Citigroup Inc., HSBC
Holdings PLC, Merrill Lynch & Co. subsidiary First Franklin Financial Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co,
according to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance.

JKL

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