Existing House Sales Far Worse Than Advertised

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | Uncategorized

Did anyone else react to the good news regarding the housing market with the same sense of disbelief I did? Take a look at this article by Barry Ritholz and see what’s really going on with the numbers.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/08/existing-home-sales-not-as-advertised/

Think about it…prices are down sharply y-o-y; rates are at historic lows; moratoriums and modification initiatives have kept hundreds of thousands of foreclosures off the market; housing sentiment is worlds better; a tax credit is available; and still, y-o-y sales are flat for all intents and purposes and down 6.5% from weak 2007 levels when pricing was near the peak. Conditions won’t get much better than this in the future — what is it going to take to sell houses?

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