No doubt this comes unexpectedly to the mainstream media. Existing Home Sales have hit a 15 year low. To be fair to the MSM, analysts were expecting a drop of 12%. The actual drop came in at 27.2%;
The housing market is also being hampered by the weakening economic recovery. Unemployment remains stuck at 9.5 percent and many potential buyers worry they might not have a job to pay the mortgage.
Prices have fallen in part because foreclosures are running about 10 times higher than before the housing bust. Though the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has sunk to 4.42 percent, many people can't qualify because banks have tightened their lending standards.
To sum up - high unemployment, lack of faith in a recovery, high foreclosure rates, banks tightening lending (apparently they have to keep everything available to lend to the government now, to cover those 1+ trillion dollar deficits).
There's a recipe for success! Perhaps the Democrats should have a "recovery summer" tour and tout the effects of the crap sandwich formerly know as the stimulus.
