USA TODAY: ….The report was concerning because sales fell even though more homes were for sale, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at real-estate Web site Trulia.com. Previously, new home sales have stayed well short of pre-recession highs because of a shortage of homes on the market.
“I think we can chalk it up to higher rates,” Moody’s Analytics economist Greg Bird said. “This was going to be the month you would see it.”
The drop in sales appears to be coming from weaker demand, rather than tighter supplies, especially because inventories of homes for sale rose, Kolko said… (more)
EDITOR: Since 2009, we have implored for fiscal, as opposed to monetary, stimulus spending to move the economy onto recovery. Republicans blocked the Obama administration’s recommendations despite the advocacy of stimulus by almost every respected economist in the country.
With high unemployment and underemployment and with little new infrastructure and what we have often rotting away, we are paying a horrific price for ignorance and obstructionism and we will continue to do so for years. Had we spent more on improvements three years ago (and thus less for unemployment and other social network benefits), by now we would likely be producing budget surpluses and reducing the national debt as occurred under the latter Clinton administration years.
We see what misplaced austerity has wrought here. We see what it has done to Europe. All so sad. All so avoidable.
