Sales Data ‘Damped’ By Interest Rates

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Sales Data ‘Damped’ By Interest Rates.

Damped, schmamped. National Association of Realtors Chief Economist David Lereah's excuses for poor sales figures get more watered down every month.

Check out his latest comments in this story from Marketwatch, by Leslie Wines:

Treasury prices rose a bit Tuesday morning, sending yields a touch lower, after news showing a decline in pending home sales, signaling that the booming housing market may be cooling.

(CUT)...

The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales dropped 1.2% in March. The pending-home-sales index of 116.2 was 6% below March 2005.

"The pending-sales data were damped by mortgage-interest rates "that have been trending up since January," said David Lereah, the group's chief economist.

Recent data reports on the state of the housing sector, one of the key drivers of economic growth, have been contradictory.

If the booming housing market indeed is slowing, the overall economy would suffer to some extent as well, which in turn would likely drum up safe-haven interest in bonds.

-- The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble/Los Angeles and Beyond