Probably what most folks have known for going on five years is now confirmed ... there is no good news from the housing industry and what reports exist are inflated to show an improving outlook.
Consider this ...
"As Stephanie Pomboy in her always lively MacroMavens dispatch points out, the acrid aftermath of the big bust in housing has failed to dissipate and adamantly hangs on. The average homeowner with a mortgage, she notes, has a scant 2.6% equity in his house, and the already towering delinquency and foreclosure rates seem headed for a new thrust upward, with interest rates creeping up and jobs remaining anything but easy to come by."
Abelson, Alan, 2011. Worse than you ever dreamed. Barron's, Feb. 19.
The article goes on to question the validity of statistics from the National Association of Realtors, something that should be a surprise to no one. Maybe the real numbers for existing home sales are 15 - 20% lower.
Folks are experiencing the drastic effects of a speculative bubble. This ranks along with inflation and excessive regulation as big downers for any economy.
So goes the housing industry so goes the US economy. The effects of the housing bubble are ongoing and even worse than I anticipated in 2002. The prediction by some of a turnaround for housing by 2014 might be optimistic!
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