by David Kranzler
Investment Research Dynamics
In his latest commentary on the National Association of Realtors’ Existing Home Sales reports, John Williams of Shadowstats.com had this comment: “the quality of data underlying this series remains questionable, as seen in erratic reporting over the years” (Shadowstats.com). This speaks to my recurring assertion that the National of Association of Realtors’ existing home sales reports have become just as questionable as the Government-generated new home sales reports.
More fascinating to watch is the NAR’s chief clown, Larry Yun, vacillate between his justifications for worse than expected reports and his glowing promotion of better than expected reports. The volatility of both the NAR’s report and Yun’s commentary on these reports is become more unstable and erratic in the past 12-18 months.