Just the headlines for now:

EXISTING U.S. HOME SALES REVISED DOWN BY 14% FROM 2007-2010

EXISTING HOME SALES REVISED DOWN BY 15% IN 2010 TO 4.19 MLN

Thank you NAR for proving what everyone knew: that the US housing market is one big lie. And next: here come the historical GDP revisions.

The three charts that matter:

And the reasons for the "rebenchmarking"

Fewer FSBO home sales and more REALTOR®-assisted home sales (e.g., no net increase in home sales in a case where 80 MLS sales and 20 FSBOs shifts to 90 MLS sales and 10 FSBOs)

More Homebuilders seek REALTOR®-assistance in listing properties on MLSs (More MLS count even though there is no increase in existing home sales)

Flipping of a home (re-sell within 12 months)

Re-benchmarked figure excludes the second sale, while they are counted as twice in MLS count

Enlarged MLS geographic coverage

Some of the home sales are not an increase in home sales but are just due to enlarged sampled areas

Double counting as one single property is listed in two or more MLSs

Example: a home in Colorado Springs is listed in MLS in Colorado Springs and is also listed in MLS in Denver.



Odd: no mention of the primary reason for the "rebenchmarking", namely that the NAR is nothing but an advertising front for the US housing industry.

