Sales of U.S. existing homes likely dipped in September with bad weather keeping potential buyers away and housing demand cooling from its robust level earlier this year, analysts said. Analysts polled by on average expected that U.S. existing home sales likely fell to an annualized rate of 6.51 million annualized units last month, down from August's 6.54 million annualized units. The National Association of Realtors is due to release September figures at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) on Monday U.S. home sales have remained strong as mortgage rates have stayed near historical lows. Several government officials including Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow said in separate appearances this week that the U.S. housing market is sound and has not showed signs of a price "bubble." Although U.S. household debt burden is at a record high, Greenspan said on Tuesday measures of household financial stress "do not, at least to date, appear overly worrisome."
Mortgage rates have been falling in recent weeks and are now running below year-ago levels. Concerns about slowing economic growth and rising oil prices have been putting downward pressure on mortgage rates. Interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell for a second straight week. The average 30-year rate slipped to 5.69 percent this week from 5.74 percent the prior week, Freddie Mac said on Friday. Other signs of strength in home sales include an October rise in optimism among U.S. home builders and high demand for mortgages to buy homes. However, housing construction dropped a surprising 6 percent in September from August, but many analysts have attributed much of the decline to inclement weather, especially hurricanes that slammed the U.S. Southeast.///www..com