Real Estate: No New McMansions Sold in July

Not only did new-home sales plunge in July to a record low going back to 1963, but the McMansion market saw no activity whatsoever -- for the second month in a row.

As David Rosenberg, the presciently bearish chief economist and strategist at Canadian asset manager Gluskin Sheff told clients Thursday: "The high-end market, in particular, is under tremendous pressure. In fact, it is becoming nonexistent."

Not a single new home priced above $750,000 sold in July or June, Rosenberg notes. As for houses priced between $500,000 and $750,000, only 1,000 new units were sold last month. When it comes to new homes that did find buyers in July, more than 80% were priced under $300,000.

"Just another sign of how this remains a full-fledged buyers' market -- at least for the ones that can either afford to put down a down payment or are creditworthy enough to secure a mortgage loan," Rosenberg says, adding that 25% of the household sector has a FICO credit score of less than 600.

Here's a nifty chart, courtesy of Haver Analytics and Gluskin Sheff, showing the trend for new-home sales prices. A buyer's market, indeed: