All is Wrong…Very Wrong
Don’t look now, but a slowdown is upon us. The New York Times is reporting falling prices in “almost every hot housing market in the country”. Five reasons the Times gives as proof of a slowdown:
- In Manhattan, the average sales price fell almost 13 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter.
- Executives at big home builders have sold almost $1 billion worth of company stock this year.
- Outside Washington, in Fairfax County, Va., the number of homes on the market in August rose nearly 50 percent from August 2004.
- In the Boston suburb of Brookline, Mass., where many three-bedroom houses cost $1 million or more, the inventory of homes for sale has increased in just the last few weeks.
- For-sale listings have also swelled throughout California, according to the California Association of Realtors. In the San Francisco Bay area, they have increased 16 percent in the last year.
The Fed chairman’s comments last week about “sizable equity cushion” now appear calming rather than favorable as we first thought. Silly us.
Slowing Seen in Hot Markets [NY Times]