I took that report as negative overall.
Actual homes in inventory went up.
Sales were up only because foreclosures were up, and they hit bids, which isn’t a sign of strength.
The rate of sales of foreclosures doesn’t tell me anything about the rate of sale of the inventory of non foreclosures.
If anything that rate might have gone down quite a bit.
The pricing data was mixed and didn’t have enough info to see how the ‘quality adjusted’ prices did.
Markets took the report as good news, so could be over done if next weeks news remains weak.
For trading purposes I remain on the sidelines.
Strong Gain in Existing-Home Sales Maintains Uptrend
August 21 (NAR) — Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008.
Total housing inventory at the end of July rose 7.3 percent to 4.09 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, which was unchanged from June because of the strong sales gain. The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee appears united in the conviction that its unconventional approach to boosting Britain’s economy has -further to run.
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