Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for March showing the continued development of the second epic government sponsored surge in home sales activity with single family home sales increasing 7.45% since last March and climbing a whopping 20.53% above the level seen last year.As for prices, the April release finally brought a notable, albeit totally manufactured, jump in median prices (bravo for the Feds and Realtors!), the first year-over-year increase in at least 42 months climbing 4.46% since last year.
Another trend worth following is the continued increase in inventory with the fourth consecutive monthly rise bringing current inventory to 3.43 million units resulting in a monthly supply of 8.2
Today’s results likely indicate that the government’s tax gimmick (second and final expiration is upon us) is driving a surge of phony demand and bringing a renewal of speculative animal spirits but the effect will likely be temporary.
The following charts (click for full-screen dynamic version) shows national existing single family home sales, median home prices, inventory and months of supply since 2005.
