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US Existing Home Sales Appear to Be Muted More by Price Than Supply
The disappointing existing home sales release this morning may be due more to near-record high home prices than lack of supply. In the six year span between 2000 to 2005, during the lead up to the housing mania that culminated in the Great Recession, the annualized rate for existing home sales was 6.02 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Over the same time frame, supply of existing homes for sale averaged 4.5 months. During the time frame from 2014 until now, the data appears similar with the annualized run rate at 5.3 million while supply has averaged 4.4 months. Yet, despite supply between the two ... (full story)