Existing home sales are exciting for the markets. They mean loans are being taken out. They mean the housing market isn't totally dead yet. They mean big ticked durable goods orders (really, has anyone ever really liked the appliances the house comes with?). They mean sales at hardware stores. They mean a thousand little trickle-down impacts on GDP that join together like the rushing of mighty waters to drive the economic engines of our nation and propel our GDP to undreamed-of heights [1].
Unless the numbers are bad. Then sad broker is sad.
Now, I think I've said it a dozen times already this week {2], but in September there were 4,530,000 existing homes sold (a 10.0% increase from August's sales). The smart guys in the expensive suits who look at this sort of thing are expecting only 4,500,000 sales for October. Are they right?
Well, no. Sad broker is sad.
The official information is on the website of the National Association of Realtors, at http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2010/11/october_retreat. In a nutshell, we hit only 4,430,000 existing home sales (a 2.2% decline from September).
So, not as good as expected. Not as bad as 200 artillery shells landing near your home, but still not great.
[1] Which, historically speaking, results in an unsustainable housing bubble that bursts and destroys the world economy. But who wants to learn from history?
[2] Three times actually. Counting this one. But who's counting.
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