A report Wednesday that new home sales plummeted to a record low after the federal housing tax credit expired added to worries that the broader economy could relapse after a spurt of growth in the last year.
Sales of previously occupied homes dipped 2.2 percent in May, suggesting that a boost from government home-buying incentives is winding down earlier than expected.
Name: Bryce Rowland
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Back in the brightest days of the housing boom, it seemed as if vacation properties in such places as Rehoboth and Dewey Beach, Del., were literally flying off the market."In 2004, prices were really appreciating rapidly," says Chris Riss, real estate agent of Jack Lingo Realtor in Rehoboth, an area so popular with Washington-area residents that it has been dubbed the nation's summer capital.
Name: Constance (Connie) Maffin
Pessimism is a contagious affliction, born by fears of a cataclysmic result that is based on little or no compelling evidence — usually in the face of a pile of facts to the contrary.
Name: Mona LaCovey
(AP) A big drop in the cost of gasoline in July contributed to the smallest rise in consumer prices in eight months, while industrial output posted a solid gain.
