Hard to Put Lipstick Spin on this Housing Pig

Dow plunged to -170 on this news! "Historically July is the peak inventory month in any given year," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. So this month is supposed to be the best month of the year, and its down 27.2%!

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The sale of existing U.S. homes sank 27.2% in July - the biggest one-month drop ever - largely because of the phase-out of a federal tax credit, according to an industry trade group. The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million in July from a revised 5.26 million the month before. Sales of single-family homes fell to the lowest rate in 15 years. Inventories of unsold homes rose 2.5% to 3.98 million in July, representing a 12.5-month supply, the highest level since at least 1999. The median sales price edged up 0.7% in the past year to $182,600 in July, the NAR said.