So, it looks like all of the pundits who were telling us that home sales are "not so bad" or were"recovering" over the past 4 years will need to revise their position. The National Association of Realtors announced yesterday that they may have "overstated" home sales since 2007 due to over-counting ????
According to CNBC:
Data on sales of previously owned U.S. homes from 2007 through October this year will be revised down next week because of double counting, indicating a much weaker housing market than previously thought.
The National Association of Realtors said a benchmarking exercise had revealed that some properties were listed more than once, and in some instances, new home sales were also captured.
"All the sales and inventory data that have been reported since January 2007 are being downwardly revised. Sales were weaker than people thought," NAR spokesman Walter Malony told Reuters.These downward revisions will likely make next years numbers look great. In 2012 we will probably see a great deal of "beat expectations" numbers coming out of the NAR. Just in time for an election year!
