2017年商务英语BEC高级阅读练习题（十四）

　　美国2月份成屋销售量7个月来首次出现增长，但销售价格却创下至少40年来的最大跌幅。

　　Sales of previously owned homes in the US rose for the first time in seven months in February, while sale prices fell by their most in at least 40 years.

　　全美房地产经纪人协会(National Association of Realtors)的数据显示，经季节因素调整后，美国上月成屋销售量增加2.9%，折合成年率为503万套，但较上年同期减少了23.8%。

　　Figures from the National Association of Realtors showed that existing home sales rose by 2.9 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03m units last month, still 23.8 per cent lower than a year ago.

　　此前，美国1月份成屋销售量折合成年率为489万套，创下自1999年有记录以来的最低水平。市场曾预计2月份的销售量将再次小幅下滑，至485万套。

　　The rise comes after sales fell in January to a level of 4.89m – the lowest since records began in 1999. Sales had been expected to fall modestly again this month to a level of 4.85m.

　　经济学家们表示，成屋销售量的增加，对住宅和金融市场是一个积极信号，但并非住宅市场即将好转的明证。

　　Economists said that the rise was a positive indication for housing and the financial markets but that it was not clear evidence that residential real estate was about to improve.

　　雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)经济学家扎克·潘德尔(Zach Pandl)表示：“销售量的上升是重要的第一步，但我不会就此认为住宅市场的问题都已得到解决。”

　　“The rise in sales is an important first step,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Lehman Brothers. “But I wouldn’t call it the end of the problems in housing.”

　　美国2月份成屋销售价格下滑8.2%，价格中值为19.59万美元，创下全美房地产经纪人协会自1968年开始记录房价以来的最大单月跌幅。

　　House prices fell 8.2 per cent – the biggest one-month drop since the NAR began keeping records in 1968 – to a median price of $195,900