Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Confusion: Home Sales and Home Ownership

On July 26, the new home sales numbers were released and Bloomberg news reported it this way:
"Purchases of new U.S. single-family homes rose in June to the highest level in more than eight years, indicating a firm and resilient housing market."
Keep in mind the words "firm and resilient" when looking at the following. This chart was based on home ownership from St. Louis Federal Reserve and was released just two days later than the above:

Click on Image to Enlarge or See Link Below
In my opinion, you can't have home ownership falling to a level not seen since 1965, and still, somehow, claim the housing market is both "firm" and "resilient".  This seems quite confusing.

References:

New-Home Sales in U.S. Jump to Highest Level Since February 2008: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-26/new-home-sales-in-u-s-jump-to-highest-level-since-february-2008

Federal Reserve: Homeownership rate: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RHORUSQ156N#

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