voa标准英语2008-US House Prices Continue to Fall Despite Low Mor

The U.S. housing sector¹ remains² weak, two years into an unprecedented³ decline. House prices, house sales, and house construction are all continuing to fall.
　

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Home prices in the United States have fallen over eight percent this year, according to housing industry specialist Zillow.com. This follows a nine percent drop in 2007, the first year average U.S. home prices had declined since 1990. Overall, Zillow.com says American homeowners have lost $2 trillion of equity⁴ during what has become the worst housing slump⁵ since World War II.

The U.S. economy overall is in the midst of deep recession, with some forecasters predicting that in the current three-month period economic activity is declining at seven percent annual rate.

Treasury⁶ Secretary Henry Paulson says an economic recovery is unlikely until house prices begin to rise. Tuesday the Federal Reserve signaled its intention to drive mortgage interest rates lower.

"If we get mortgage rates down that is going to have a great deal of beneficial effect on the economy," said Richard Hoey, the chief economist⁷ at the Bank of New York Mellon. "And I look at this statement [from the Federal Reserve] and see that this is a Fed that is trying to push mortgage rates down by buying mortgage securities."

Mortgage rates are falling with 30-year home mortgages available at interest rates over five percent. Hoey told Bloomberg Television he expects rates will fall further. Rates haven't been below five percent since the 1950s.

But low rates have not yet stimulated⁸ the depressed⁹ housing market. New home construction in November fell 19 percent to its lowest level since 1959. Foreclosure filings in November were 28 percent higher than a year earlier and some 12 million Americans now have mortgage balances bigger than the market value of their homes. The credit squeeze that evolved into recession began in August 2007 with widespread defaults on high-risk home loans.

But not all experts agree that the government should be trying to boost home prices.

"What the credit crisis is telling us is that there is too much debt and that asset prices were unreasonably¹⁰ elevated, particularly house prices," said James Grant, a respected financial analyst¹¹ in New York. "The federal agenda is to intervene to try so as to prevent the readjustment of prices lower."

The Federal Reserve is intent on stimulating¹² economic activity and combating incipient¹³ deflation. Most experts say if mortgage rates do go lower, home prices are likely to recover.

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

5 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

9 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

10 unreasonably   

adv. 不合理地

参考例句：

• He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄，无事生非，平庸刻薄的人。
• Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

13 incipient   

adj.起初的，发端的，初期的

参考例句：

• The anxiety has been sharpened by the incipient mining boom.采矿业初期的蓬勃发展加剧了这种担忧。
• What we see then is an incipient global inflation.因此，我们看到的是初期阶段的全球通胀.