South drives national fall in housing sales

We've reported before about how the national housing crisis uniquely impacts the South. New evidence comes from the housing numbers released last week by the Census Bureau.

Across the nation, sales of new housing have nose-dived over 20% over the last year:

Sales of new one-family houses in August 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000 ... This is 8.3 percent below the revised July rate of 867,000 and is 21.2 percent below the August 2006 estimate of 1,009,000.

Most importantly: the Census data also shows that slumping sales in the South are what drove the entire country's decline. Here's a quick table of how far sales dropped from August 2006 to August 2007 by region:

DROP IN HOME SALES, 8/06 - 8/07

Northeast -- 14%
Midwest -- 11.2%
South -- 27.1%
West -- 16%
National -- 21.2%

What does this mean? More than anything, it reveals the fast-growing South's driving role in shaping the nation's overall economy -- a fact political leaders would do well to remember when considering whether and how to have a presence in the region.

* NOTE: The Census uses a slightly different definition of the South than the Institute, but it doesn't change the numbers much.