国际英语新闻：U.S. house market has long way to go before recovery

BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of U.S. households facing foreclosure rose 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year.

    The number involves more than 342,000 households, Realty Trac said on Wednesday.

    That means one in every 371 households with a mortgage received a foreclosure filing last month, marking it the highest monthly rate since 2005.

    The latest figures suggest that the U.S. housing market remains deeply mired. Some analysts are convinced that the U.S. housing recovery may be delayed if foreclosures continue to go unchecked.

    From their viewpoint, although these foreclosures are in the initial stages and bank repossessions have dropped to their lowest level since March 2008, the repossessions may increase sharply if foreclosures continue to grow. Home prices could also be further dampened by an inflow of cheap old houses provided by banks through auctions.

    Given the fact that old houses can cater to a broad demand with quantity and quality, marketing old homes will pose competition to new ones, making it harder for builders to launch new projects.

    The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index shows U.S. housing prices have declined over 30 percent since its peak in 2006.

    It is reported that 27 percent of U.S. houses with mortgages are valued less than the loans. If this continues to gather momentum, 16 percent of home buyers are estimated to lose their properties by 2012.

    Since January this year, new house sales have increased in some states due to low interest rates and tax incentives.

    With this good news, U.S. Housing and Urban Secretary Shaun Donovan and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday that the housing market is showing signs of recovery.

    Donovan said since January, U.S. house sales have stabilized, and home prices are showing signs of a slowing decline.

    However, this optimism has been challenged by some experts.

    Economist Christopher Thornberg said the increase in new home sales was "a short term blip" caused by government policy and would not last for long.

    Builders are not ready to produce new homes when there are plenty of foreclosures to meet demand, he said.

    The median U.S. single-family house price in the first quarter this year fell nearly 14 percent from one year ago to 169,000 U.S. dollars, the U.S. National Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday, after the Department of Labor announced that the U.S. jobless rate had reached 8.9 percent, the highest level in a quarter century.

    To some extent, the distressed home market has been tied to the record high jobless rate.

    On one hand, with grave unemployment, consumers are unable or unwilling to purchase homes, deepening the housing crisis; on the other, depression in the home market is bound to put a negative impact on relevant industries, further affecting employment.

    Analysts believe in light of the current economic woes, the U.S. housing market has still a long way to go before it sees a recovery.