Holy Crap

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Scary picture h/t Calculated Risk

They, whoever "they" are, were predicting that existing home sales would be fall post tax credit to an annual rate of something north of 4½ million.

Well, they were wrong. Existing home sales fell to 3.83 million, a 15 year low, and the 27.2% drop was the biggest since they, whoever "they" are, started collecting data.

What's more, housing inventory has risen from 8.9 months to 12.5 months since May.

The thing is, this was foreseeable. Everything that has been done in terms of real estate has been about extend and pretend.

Whether it's the fraud perpetrated on desperate people through HAMP, or the ruinously wasteful home buyer tax credits, this has all been about propping up housing prices in the short term in the hope that the banks can nickel and dime small consumers to generate enough profits to dig themselves out of their hole.

They keep pushing the sh%$ up hill, expecting to reach the crest of the hill, and it ain't happening, and now this pile is collapsing back down on us.

Recovery my ass.