A slew of seemingly conflicting, or at a bare minimum, entangled housing related statistics have been released over the past few days. Each statistic is generally covered as the subject of a story rather than combined into one analysis, the results often contradict each other. Here are some headlines grouped by their indicated trends for the month:
Headline Summary – Improving Conditions (sort of):
[Associated Press: Rates on 30 – Year Mortgages Decline](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Mortgage-Rates.html)[MarketWatch: New-home sales surge to record 1.41 mln [Note: Reg.]](http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?dist=nwtpm¶m=archive&siteid=mktw&guid=%7B5838221E%2DDB28%2D4F1E%2D93E9%2D64DFC8B507BC%7D)Headline Summary – Weakening Conditions (sort of):
[Wall Street Journal: Economic Data Send Mixed Signals [Note: Paid Sub.]](http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112488615798321755,00.html?mod=djemTAR)[New York Times: The nation’s long housing boom appears to be losing steam.](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/business/24econ.html)[New York Times: Rents Head Up as Home Prices Put Off Buyers](http://nytimes.com/2005/08/25/realestate/25rent.html?hp&ex=1124942400&en=973467168b71e01d&ei=5094&partner=homepage)[Wall Street Journal: Rise in Supply of Homes for Sale Suggests Market Could Be Cooling [Note: Paid Sub.]](http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112381117394311632,00-search.html?KEYWORDS=rise+in+supply+of+homes&COLLECTION=wsjie/archive)
And The Trend (This Month) Is…
Existing home sales are far greater than new sales so their decline, coupled with rising rents and expanding inventory would appear to indicate a leveling off of the market. But then again, these are July stats, an historically slow period of the year for housing sales, and next month is expected to be more of the same.
What The Real Estate Economy Really Needs:
[Washington Post: More Cowbell!](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46074-2005Jan28.html)
…sorry, it was late when this was posted.
One Comment
Comments are closed.
The amount of media coverage and opinions on the housing market is staggering. As a student of all markets, I find the news an invaluable resource since it reflects market sentiment. In my opinion, as with all trends, markets climb walls of worry. As long as I continue to see article after article published about the bubble bursting, the trend should continue. It’s when all possible expectations have been exceeded,the skeptics fade and complacency begins to take hold that it’s time to look for a trend change. JR