sales of existing homes jumped nearly 8% last month to a 4.82 million unit annual rate. that s a two-year high. construction of new homes and apartments rose 2.3%. the big gain was in single family homes. erika miller takes a closer look behind the numbers and gives us a status report on the housing recovery. reporter: when it comes to real estate, august is typically a slow month, but the latest housing data suggests there was strong momentum heading into the fall. the median price for a home resale surged to $187,400 during the month. that s up nearly 10% from a year ago the biggest year-over-year price increase since the housing boom went bust. that wasn t the only encouraging sign. distressed properties are declining as a percentage of total sales. 22% of sales in august were foreclosures and short sales. a year ago, the level was 31%. record low mortgage rates get some of the credit for encouraging home buying. definitely, they are helping at the margin. obviously,
tom: with stocks in a free fall, investors take it on the chin. but what triggered the worst sell-off in more than two years? i d say it s just an accumulation of problems that finally broke the camel s back today. suzanne: we have complete coverage of the market wreckage and where buyers were looking for shelter. it s nightly business report for thursday, august 4. this is nightly business report with susie gharib and tom hudson. nightly business report is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i m joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a massive selloff clobbered the stock market today, making it the worst day for the dow industrial average since the 2008 financial crisis. suzanne: tom, it was ugly here at the big board. investors are stressed about the anemic u.s. recovery and the fragile glo
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i m joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a massive selloff clobbered the stock market today, making it the worst day for the dow industrial average since the 2008 financial crisis. suzanne: tom, it was ugly here at the big board. investors are stressed about the anemic u.s. recovery and the fragile global economy. the dow plunged 512 points while the nasdaq gave up a stunning 136, or close to 5%, and the s&p 500 lost 60. all of the major averages are now in negative territory for the year. tom: no area of the market was immune. all ten of the s&p sectors moved sharply lower, down by 3% or more. nosedive into the closing bell to end with better than 500-point losses. putting that into context, recent selling over the last sessions have erased eight months of gains for the dow jones in
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i m joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a massive selloff clobbered the stock market today, making it the worst day for the dow industrial average since the 2008 financial crisis. suzanne: tom, it was ugly here at the big board. investors are stressed about the anemic u.s. recovery and the fragile global economy. the dow plunged 512 points while the nasdaq gave up a stunning 136, or close to 5%, and the s&p 500 lost 60. all of the major averages are now in negative territory for the year. tom: no area of the market was immune. all ten of the s&p sectors moved sharply lower, down by 3% or more. nosedive into the closing bell to end with better than 500-point losses. putting that into context, recent selling over the last sessions have erased eight months of gains for the dow jones in
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i m joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a massive selloff clobbered the stock market today, making it the worst day for the dow industrial average since the 2008 financial crisis. suzanne: tom, it was ugly here at the big board. investors are stressed about the anemic u.srecovery and the fragile global economy. the dow plunged 512 points while the nasdaq gave up a stunning 136, or close to 5%, and the s&p 500 lost 60. all of the major averages are now in negative territory for the year. tom: no area of the market was immune. all ten of the s&p sectors moved sharply lower, down by 3% or more. nosedive into the closing bell to end with better than 500-point losses. putting that into context, recent selling over the last sessions have erased eight months of gains for the dow jones indu