For the past several months, worse was better. Today, better is worse, after the release of April new home sales, which printed at a seasonally adjusted 343K annual rate, on expectations of a 335K print, or an increase from the April print of 328K, since revised to 332K. The mean and median price rose by 5.1% and 4.9% respectively. In non SAAR terms, this represented a total of 33K units sold in April, even as the units Under Construction and Completed were flat or declined, respectively. Sadly, this better than expected number, only meant that just as the market was getting quite gung ho on more QE in the aftermath of the ongoing European collapse, the good news pulled the rug from under the market, and the result was a plunge in virtually all risk assets.
As for the big picture, and how much of the 11K increase really matters as the actual series continues to plumb all time lows, we leave it to readers to decide.
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