IFR/Reuters: WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (IFR) - While the annualized sales pace of 321,000 new homes sold in January is above market expectations for a rise to 315k, the sales pace is actually a decline of 0.9% from the revised 324k homes sold last December. December sales were revised up 5.5% from 307k to 324k after having originally been reported as falling 2.2%. The very helpful revision made December's performance a monthly gain of 1.9%. In fact, January now represents the first monthly decline after four consecutive months of increasing sales paces. Although revisions strengthened sales at the end of 2011 (Oct and Nov were revised up), they do not change the fact that 2011 was still a struggle, as the 304k homes sold was beneath the 323k homes sold in 2010. While optimism for the housing market is strengthening, actual sales have yet to make those feelings a reality, showing that the market is still stabilizing.
Absolutely not. Only a fool fights the Fed. You can find my forex trades in the Forex forum. Search under the thread "Guru Trade".
More on the Housing Recovery from Ricter's favorite blog, ZeroHedge (though the data is not from there...) http://www.zerohedge.com/news/no-ho...ws-8th-consecutive-month-house-price-declines No Housing Recovery - Case Shiller Shows 8th Consecutive Month Of House Price Declines Little that can be added here. The December Case Shiller came, saw, and shut up all those who keep calling for a home price recovery. The Index printed at 136.71 on expectations of 137.11, with the prior revised to 138.24. The top 20 City composite was down -0.5% on expectations of a 0.35% drop. 18 out of 20 MSAs saw monthly declines in December over November, with just the worst of the worst - Miami and Phoenix - posting a dead cat bounce, rising 0.2% and 0.8% respectively. And granted the data is delayed, but the fact that we have now had 8 consecutive months of home price declines even with mortgage rates persistently at record lows, and the double dip in housing more than obvious, can we finally shut up about a housing bottom? Because as Case Shiller's David Blitzer says: "If anything it looks like we might have reentered a period of decline as we begin 2012.â QED From the report: âIn terms of prices, the housing market ended 2011 on a very disappointing note,â says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. âWith this monthâs report we saw all three composite hit new record lows. While we thought we saw some signs of stabilization in the middle of 2011, it appears that neither the economy nor consumer confidence was strong enough to move the market in a positive direction as the year ended. âAfter a prior three years of accelerated decline, the past two years has been a story of a housing market that is bottoming out but has not yet stabilized. Up until todayâs report we had believed the crisis lows for the composites were behind us, with the 10-City Composite originally hitting a low in April 2009 and the 20-City Composite in March 2011. Now it looks like neither was the case, as both hit new record lows in December 2011. The National Composite fell by 3.8% in the fourth quarter alone, and is down 33.8% from its 2nd quarter 2006 peak. It also recorded a new record low. âIn general, most of the regions also posted weak data in December. Eighteen of the cities saw average home prices fall in December over November. Seventeen of the cities have seen monthly declines for at least three consecutive months. In addition to both monthly composites, 10 of the cities saw home prices fall by more than 1.0% during the month of December. The pick-up in the economy has simply not been strong enough to keep home prices stabilized. If anything it looks like we might have reentered a period of decline as we begin 2012.â 8 Consecutive Months of Declines: Can we shut up on the housing recovery bullshit now?
Interesting, and good for a few points profit. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Increases 28 Feb. 2012 The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had decreased in January, increased in February. The Index now stands at 70.8 (1985=100), up from 61.5 in January. The Present Situation Index increased to 45.0 from 38.8. The Expectations Index rose to 88.0 from 76.7 in January. c
Now, look to zerohedge to find some secret (replaces sacred) knowledge which (they trust) bestows power on the disciples, and see that good news is actually bad news. Good gig they've got going. When things are good say, "no, it aint so". When things are bad, say, "see? Told you so." Maybe zerohedge has some value in being a (tiny) suppressant effect on manias and bubbles.
Second time in the week since this thread was started that i have seen a firm downgrading all homebuilders...... 28 Feb 2012 09:15 [BZH] Compass Point downgrades BZH, HOV, DHI, KBH to Sell from Hold; PHM cut to Neutral from Buy Housing is "Rolling along" is convertibility would say.....
So are you disputing some data that ZH has put out? Please, by all means, have at it. Because if all you're doing is attacking the credibility of the site without pointing out where they are wrong, then you just make yourself sound petty.
You act like you think every aspect of a complex economy should be improving, for the economy to be improving. Do you think every day in the markets, during a bull trend, should be an up day?