STEVE INSKEEP, host: The business news starts with cheaper new homes.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: The median price of new U.S. homes will fall this year for the first time in 15 years. That's the assessment from the National Association of Realtors.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's Wendy Kaufman has more.</s>WENDY KAUFMAN: In its monthly economic outlook, the trade group said the median price of a new home is expected to fall two-tenths of one percent to $240,500. The price of existing homes will likely rise to 223,000. That 1.6 percent increase is the smallest gain on record.</s>WENDY KAUFMAN: The latest forecast is less rosy than the predictions the realtors made just a month ago. The inventory of new and existing homes for sale is currently at record levels.</s>WENDY KAUFMAN: Still, citing what he called a positive economic backdrop of lower interest rates and job creation, the chief economist of the association said he expected sales activity to pick up early next year.</s>WENDY KAUFMAN: Wendy Kaufman, NPR News.
The National Association of Realtors predicts the price of new homes in the United States will fall this year for the first time in 15 years. The association also projects that the price of existing homes will rise, barely.