Following last month's biggest miss in 5 months, New Home Sales were revised higher in Jan and rose 9.6% in February to 468k (beating the 400k expectations by the most in 13 months). This is a new five-year high for new home sales. The "catastrophic" storm-battered NorthEast had new home sales of 33k (+73% MoM) - the highest since June; and the Snow-covered South saw huge sales. Home prices are up year-over-year by 3.4% but dropped to their lowest since August. If this does not entirely dismiss the 'weather is to blame' meme for any other macro weakness, then what does?
New 5 year highs for sales...
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As prices drop...
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and momentum is fading in price appreciation...
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Charts: Bloomberg