Readers know that Zero Hedge boycotts manipulated NAR data, which, just like Libor, is not only meaningless, and set by "insiders" who have skin in the game, but is also always wrong and just like BLS data sees massive retroactive revisions [8]which make any concurrent data releases flat out fabricated. Today we will make an exception, not so much because the just released pending home sales miss (-1.4% on expectations of +0.3%) confirmed what most people know: namely that the housing "recovery" has the same credibility as saying ZNGA has bottomed, and follows misses in New and Existing home sales, but because the below video of Larry Yun is a pure theatrical masterpiece and worth the price of admission alone.
And more from the NAR, which at last check was still exempt from Anti Money-laundering provisions (unlike the HSBC), in effect making the US real estate market the biggest legalized money laundering operation in existence, fully endorsed by the US government,
Pending home sales declined in June but marked 14 consecutive months of year-over-year gains, according to the National Association of Realtors
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, slipped 1.4 percent to 99.3 in June from a downwardly revised 100.7 in May but is 9.5 percent higher than June 2011 when it was 90.7. The data reflect contracts but not closings.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said inventory shortages are a factor. “Buyer interest remains strong but fewer home listings mean fewer contract signing opportunities,” Yun said. “We’ve been seeing a steady decline in the level of housing inventory, which is most pronounced in the lower price ranges popular with first-time buyers and investors.”
According to the Realtors® Confidence Index, the buyer traffic index stood at 60 in June while the seller index was 41, which shows a large imbalance between buyer and seller interest. A value of 50 implies neutral market conditions; the disparity between buyers and sellers began to grow in early spring and has been in a particularly large imbalance for the past two months.
“Any bank-owned properties that have been held back in markets with inventory shortages should be released expeditiously to help meet market demand,” Yun said. “Housing starts will likely need to double over the next two years to satisfy the pent-up demand for both rentals and ownership.”
And more gobledygook here [9]