housing

Housing, leading indicators unexpectedly rebound

Bloomberg reports that

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. unexpectedly rose from a record low, propelled by the biggest slump in prices since the Great Depression as foreclosures surged.
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The index of leading economic indicators unexpectedly increased in December as the money supply expanded, a report from the Conference Board, a New York-based research group, showed today. The 0.3 percent increase was the first gain in six months and masked signs of a worsening recession.
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The number of previously owned unsold homes on the market at the end of December represented 9.3 months’ worth at the current sales pace, down from 11.2 months’ at the end of the prior month.

A few comments:

Today's Nominees for being Truly, Utterly, Spectacularly Wrong are ...

The internet is a wonderful thing in the department of making a permanent record. While looking for some data for another post, I came across this gem, from a 2007 article excerpting a chapter in a forthcoming book, “The Economics of Housing Bubbles,” in America’s Housing Crisis: A Case of Government Failure, edited by Benjamin Powell and Randall Holcombe:

There are three basic views of bubbles that are held by economists. The dominant view among modern mainstream economists, including the Chicago school and proponents of Supply-Side economics, is to deny the existence of bubbles and to declare that what is thought to be “bubbles” is really the result of “real” factors....

Housing Starts Down 31.1% from 1 Year Ago

Building permits dropped 8.3% from September and are down 38.4% from one year ago.

Housing Starts are 6.3% down from September and 31.1% from a year ago. When one goes to Single Family homes dropped 12% from August.

from Census

Considering what's going on and how flooded the market is, I would have expected these numbers to be even lower frankly.

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