By Kris Hudson | The Wall Street Journal
A persistent price gap between existing homes and newly built homes has given the former an advantage over the latter in recent months. But some economists say that gap will soon will start to narrow.
The latest Commerce Department data show new-home sales in July declined 2.4% from a month earlier, leaving the year-to-date total slightly less than the same period of 2013. Meanwhile, sales of existing homes rose by 2.4% in July from June for the measure’s fourth consecutive monthly gain.
Several economists and builders attribute the differing trajectories to the price gap between new and existing homes. While new homes almost always are more expensive, on average, than their older brethren, that gap widened since the recession.
