At the end of last month, the media was full of Case-Shiller’s upbeat report on the national housing market for July 2009, its most recent reporting month. Three months of improving sales “continue to support an indication of stabilization in national real estate values,” according to the September Report.
Here’s the chart, by the way, which also shows that on a national basis we are back to Autumn 2003 price levels.
See that little up-tick at the very end of down side of the mountain? That’s what every one is celebrating, folks. Indeed, it’s hard not to laugh when the Report includes tortured phrases like “the rate of annual decline … seems to be decelerating” or “all metro areas are showing an improvement in the annual rates of return, as seen through a moderation in their annual declines.” Whoopee! ...