US Jan existing home sales fall more than expected

[Purveyor]

February 25, 2004 10:14:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Sales of existing U.S. homes fell 5.2 percent in January, as housing activity settled after hitting record high levels in 2003, a report by the National Association of Realtors showed on Wednesday.

Sales of previously owned homes slid to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.04 million units from a revised 6.37 million rate in December, the real estate group said. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a 6.28 million unit rate.

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Link to entire article

[phillybri]

1. The robust economic recovery continues...

How long will it take for Bush to come out against gay marriage again today?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. More evidence that the economy is improving!

See, you can trust John "Snowjob" Snow. The economy's good.
Consumers aren't spending, housing sales are down, and unemployment
is up, the economy is all good.

That's what the TEEVEE says!

(satire)

[JM]

3. Not surprising to me.

If you actually have a job and want to look for a house, your only time is on the weekends.

The northeast and Ohio Valley was hit by storms nearly every weekend in January. If we weren't hit by snow, we were skidding on ice.
JM

[sadiesworld]

5. The figures appear to be seasonally adjusted.

[ender]

7. first of all...

if you were looking for a house in january, you probably didnt settle in january.

secondly, if you are looking for a house in january, you are looking for a damn good reason, and are not going to be deterred by a little snow.

[sadiesworld]

4. Another lagging indicator.

[Fovea]

6. Lets recap

Housing bubble bursting, gas up, 1000 jobs in January...

The stock market has become completely disconnected from the average worker's life at this point. Which menas that it is just a Ponzi scheme for the uber rich.

The only things left driving our economy are McJobs and Fraud Street.

[cybildisobedience]

8. This is truly bad economic news.

I've interviewed a number of economic experts over the past couple of years, and they've said that the ONLY thing holding even this weak economy together is the hot house market (prompted by record-low interest rates). They said that every new house sold generates about $10,000 in commerce -- home improvements, purchases like new curtains, appliances, etc.
With this decline in housing sales, they say, the numbers are going to start looking really bad, and short of making up new ones (which this crew is certainly capable of), there will be no way to hide it.
This is also something even basic, reality tv-watching, clueless morans notice -- if a house in their neighborhood sits on the market with a sign in front of it that says "price reduced" for weeks on end, even THEY figure out that Bush's rosy economic pronouncements are pure fantasy.
(or, if Clinton were in office, lies)