WASHINGTON: US home sales struck a snow drift in January, plunging to the slowest pace in nine months.

美国房产销售受到雪灾的严重打击，已经急降至九个月以来的最低点。

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of existing homes tumbled 4.9 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million. That brings sales down to their lowest level since April 2014.

美国房地产协会周一时发表声明说上月的现存房子销售下跌4.9%达到季节调整年率482万。 自2014年4月以来的最低销售水平。

Relatively low mortgage rates and steady job growth have yet to spur more activity from buyers and sellers, raising the possibility of either a spring sales rush or a second straight year of numbness in the real estate market. Few properties are being listed for sale, would-be buyers are holding off on purchases andsnowstorms are cutting into traffic at open houses.

相对的，低房贷利率和稳健工作的增长还无法鼓动买家和卖家的更多交易，更多的可能性是要么春季销售突然，要么连续第二年房地产市场冷淡。只有很少的房产在出售，潜在购房者都在放缓购买，加上暴风雪还切断了到房产活动的交通。

Weak sales in 2014 had set up expectations of a strong rebound in 2015, yet signs of that resurgence have yet to appear. The addition of roughly 1 million new jobs over the past three months has failed to make much of a dent in home-buying.

在 2014 年出现了销售疲软，预计2015年有较强的反弹，不过还没有看到任何复苏的迹象过去三个月大概额外的一百万份新工作未能成功对房产购买造成太大的影响。

Homes did sell at a rate 3.2 per cent faster than January 2014, but that increase largely reflects the brutal winter weather at the beginning of last year that depressed home-buying and caused the entire US economy to briefly shrink. The noticeably more robust US economy coming into 2015 was supposed to buoy sales, but the market has barely stirred so far.

房子的销售比起2014年1月快了3.2%，但是那也巨大地增加反映出在去年开始的残酷冬季气候所导致的房产购买的萧条和令到整个美国的经济短暂收缩。进入2015年明显更健壮的美国经济应该支撑起销售额，不过到迄今为止，市场只是仅仅活跃了些。

"The weather hit is nothing like the scale of the damage seen last winter, but we would not now be surprised to see a further decline in activity in February," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "The underlying trend in sales is more or less flat."

“气候的影响完全不能衡量去年冬季所造成的伤害，不过我们不会觉得惊讶的看到二月的活动进一步衰减。”首席经济学家说。“销售的潜在趋势或多或少的不景气”。也没有开发商加强马力提高建设。根据美国商务部上周的一个报告，房子在一月开始下降了2%。“销售的潜在趋势或多或少的不景气”。

Few properties are coming onto the market. Just 4.7 months of supply were listed for sale at the end of December, compared with an average of 5.2 months during 2014, according to the Realtors.

据Realtor的统计，在12月底前只有近4.7个月少许房产陆续登出出售，比2014年平均5.2个月这个数字有所下降。

Nor have builders ramped up construction. Housing starts slid 2 per cent in January, according to a report from the Commerce Department last week.The limited supply of homes can lift prices to higher levels, which may then lead would-be buyers to wait until they have more choices. Weekly mortgage applications fell 13.2 per cent, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last Wednesday.

也没有开发商加强马力提高建设。根据美国商务部上周的一个报告，房子在一月开始下降了2%。房子的有限供应可以把房价提升至更高的水平，也可能导致潜在买家继续等待直到他们有更多选择。美国抵押贷款银行协会上周三报道说，每周的房贷申请下降了13.2%。

Affordability has become a problem as prices have climbed at a faster clip than incomes. The national median home price rose 6.2 per cent over the past 12 months to $199,600. That has priced out many first-time buyers, who represented just 28 per cent of sales compared to their historic share of 40 per cent.

支付能力成为了一个难题因为价格升值的步伐比收入快。全美房价中值相比12个月之前上涨了6.2%达到199，600美元。这排挤出了很多首次购房者，只占了销售的28%相比起以前的40%。

Mother Nature is also beginning to take its toll. Nasty snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast likely kept would-be buyers away, further crimping sales heading into March and beginning of the spring buying season.

气候的影响也开始造成损失。暴风雪在中西部和东北部使潜在买家却步，进一步的减少了即将进入三月和春天购买季节开始的销售。

Buyer traffic for newly built homes slowed in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index.

根据全美住房建筑商协会/富国银行信心指数，新房的买房流量在二月份非常缓慢。

The Realtors said previously in a separate report that the number of signed contracts in December fell 3.7 per cent, suggesting that sales will remain under pressure in the coming months.

美国房地产经纪人说之前的独立报告在12月签约的数目下降了3.7%，暗示着销售额在接下来的月份还是会面临着压力。

Sales slid in all four major geographical regions last month: dropping 6 per cent in the Northeast, 2.7 per cent in the Midwest, 4.6 per cent in the South and 7.1 per cent in the West.

销售额在主要的四个地理位置都滑落了：东北部下降了6%，中西部2.7%，南部4.6%，西部7.1%。

Possibly hurting sales further, mortgage rates have crept upward for the past two weeks, ending what has previously been a yearlong slide.

最大可能销售额进一步减少，房产抵押贷款利息在过去两个星期慢慢往上调整，就好像之前一整年的销售滑落一样的结局。

Average 30-year fixed rates were 3.76 per cent last week, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The average has risen from 3.59 per cent at the start of February.

根据美国房产巨头房地美公司，上星期平均30 年固定利息是3.76%。在二月份的开始，平均利息从3.59%上涨了。

The current levels remain below the 4.33 per cent average from a year ago, but the previous lows might keep current homeowners from upgrading since it would mean abandoning their current mortgage for a loan with possibly a higher rate and larger monthly payments.

目前的水平保持低于一年前的平均利息4.33%，不过之前的低额可能令房产业主保持现状因为放弃目前的抵押贷款也许会造成更高的利率和更多的月供。