March existing US home sales fall by 3 percent (for sale, real estate)

[bababua]

LOL, how about that you bulls?

[kalim2008]

Originally Posted by bababua

LOL, how about that you bulls?

might help if you give a link:

March home sales fall 3%; median price rises as rates fall - USATODAY.com

[JG183]

so, March will prove to have been a bad data point...

mortgage applications -- up as of last week:

Long-term mortgage rates fall below ARM rates - MarketWatch

[MoorestownResident]

Originally Posted by bababua

LOL, how about that you bulls?

But prices rose 4.2%, second consecutive month.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

But prices rose 4.2%, second consecutive month.

Maybe that's why people aren'y buying.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by MoorestownResident

But prices rose 4.2%, second consecutive month.

those numbers are based on conforming loans only. Those are owners who can afford to hold out and wait for a better price.

[Delphi]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

Maybe that's why people aren'y buying.

That is why our next generation will not be able to buy a roof upon their head.

Price returning to historic norm is good in the long run even though that may inject pain to sellers and banks in short term.

[theoakman]

Originally Posted by elflord1973

those numbers are based on conforming loans only. Those are owners who can afford to hold out and wait for a better price.

No, those numbers are based upon an index that excludes all private financing and is exclusive to homes financed through federal programs. When you ignore all the bad data points, of course you'll be able to report positive data.

[theoakman]

Home prices cannot rise until the sales numbers are consistently up. If you believe otherwise, then you completely ignore the historical behavior of supply and demand. A price cannot rise until demand picks up or supply decreases. Given that inventory is still increasing, supply isn't decreasing. Homes for sale are increasing. Foreclosures are increasing. Now, we only have demand to look to. As long as the YOY number are negative, there will be no rise in prices. Besides that, you also need the demand side of things to outpace the supply side of things. There has been no indication of this happening at all, despite interest rates coming down to 4.5%. The only thing cheerleaders have clung to is an increase in sales from month to month since the beginning of the year. That's called a seasonal fluctuation and it's happened every year for the past 100 years. That's why we report YOY numbers! It's akin to proclaiming that the economy is improving at the Jersey shore come memorial day because people are suddenly going to the beach.

[bababua]

No don't you get it, the rise in prices is the start of another bull run.
I love the spinmeisters. Great Great Stuff. If real estate will do soo well please buy them all up.