ECONOMICS REPORT - Sales Down for New US Homes, but Up for Existing Ones
Thu, 27 Mar 2008
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
经济报道—美国新房销售下降，但现房销售上升。
2008年3月27日，星期四。
这是VOA特别英语的经济报道。
This week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes in the United States increased almost three percent in February. It was the first increase since last July.
本周，美国房地产协会报告说，美国2月份现房销售几乎上升了3%，这是自去年7月份以来的首次上升。
But fueling that increase was a drop in prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of twenty major markets showed that home prices fell almost two and a half percent in January. Prices were down almost eleven percent from a year before.
但是，推动这一上升的却是价格下跌。20个主要市场的标准普尔(S&P)/Case-Shiller住房价格指数表明，1月份房价差不多下跌了2.5%。与去年相比，价格差不多下跌了11%。
And still another report this week showed that sales of new single-family houses fell in February. Sales were down almost two percent from January, to a thirteen-year low. The Commerce Department estimated there was a ten-month supply of newly built houses waiting to be sold.
另外，本周的另一个报告表明，2月份别墅类新房的销售下降。与1月份相比，销售下跌将近2%，达到13年以来的新低。商务部估计，新建成住房可供10个月待价而沽。
Experts say prices in many markets will have to fall further before more people are willing or able to buy.
专家说，在更多人愿意或有能力购买之前，许多市场的价格铁定下行。
Prices went up and up in recent years, before the housing bubble burst. Many buyers now struggling to make payments took out loans that were too big. They thought prices would keep rising and they could sell their home for a nice profit.
近年来，价格上涨、再上涨，直至房产泡沫破裂。目前在极力还款的买家借款太多；这些买家认为，价格会不断上涨，并且他们可出售房产，获得一个好收益。
Rising values meant that people could also take out home equity loans and lines of credit. They used their home as a cash machine by borrowing against its value.
上涨价格意味着，买家也可获得房产股权的贷款及信贷。他们以房产价值(抵押)借款，而将其房产作为提款机。
Now, as those values fall, some people owe more than their home is worth. Many buyers, often with risky credit histories, took out adjustable-rate mortgages, which started out low but later reset to higher rates.
现在，由于价格下跌，一些人欠款高于房产价值。许多买家，通常具有不良信用记录，采取利率可调抵押，即开始时利率较低，但随后重新设定为较高的利率。
About two percent of all home loans are in foreclosure. Of course, that means ninety-eight percent of homes are not being reclaimed by lenders. Still, this is the highest rate since the Mortgage Bankers Association began keeping records in nineteen seventy-nine.
大约2%房产借款(的房子)处于没收境地。当然，这表明98%的房子尚未由放款方没收。然后，这也是自美国抵押贷款银行协会自1979年开始跟踪以来的最高比例。
The weak housing market is largely responsible for an economic crisis that is leading to new government steps in the financial system.
疲弱房产市场是经济困境的主要原因，而这一经济困境促使政府在金融系统中采取新举措。
Last week, the Federal Reserve pushed through a deal for J.P. Morgan Chase to buy Bear Stearns for two dollars a share. Bear, the nation's fifth-largest investment bank, was near collapse after big losses on its mortgage-backed securities. To help make the deal, the Fed agreed to take responsibility for up to thirty billion dollars in those securities.
上周，美联储促成了一笔交易，即JP摩根大通以每股2美元收购贝尔史登公司。贝尔史登公司是全美第五大投资银行，因抵押类证券的巨大亏损而接近崩溃。为了促成这一交易，美联储同意负责高达300亿美元的(这类)证券。
But J.P. Morgan faced a rebellion by Bear shareholders, so this week it increased its offer to ten dollars a share. It also agreed to take responsibility for one billion dollars of Bear's hard-to-sell securities.
但是，JP摩根大通面临贝尔史登公司股东的反对，因此本周摩根大通将其出价上升至每股10美元。并且，摩根大通还同意承担10亿美元贝尔史登公司难以出售的证券。
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
这是由Mario Ritter编写的、VOA特别英语的经济报告。我是Steve Ember。
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