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After four consecutive months of seasonally adjusted gains, the NAR existing home sales stats show a decline that was something unexpected happens.

The salient points:

* July 09 to August 09 sales declined 2.7% (2nd highest total level in the last 23 months)
* August 08 to August 09 sales up 3.4%
* August 09 median sales price $177,700 down 2.1% from July 09 and down 12.5% from August 2008.
* Inventory down 10.8% from July 09 to August 09 and down 16.4% from August 08
* Months supply was 8.5 in August 09 from 10.6 in August 08

As Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, who is quite adept at cherry picking the data to show it in the best light (that’s his job).

>Some of the give-back in closed sales appears to result from rising numbers of contracts entering the system, with some fallouts and a backlog contributing to a longer closing process….

…actually says something the should resonate with most who follow this stuff:

>…but the decline demonstrates we can’t take a housing rebound for granted.

UPDATE: Just a Blip? Why Housing Keeps Bouncing Around