For those of you looking for signs that we’re in the summer of recovery, there’s more bad news.
The Washington Post reported yesterday (on page A13, natch) that the housing market is still “struggling.” Home sales fell 3.8 in May.
In the real estate world, the Spring is the golden season to put your house on the market. Typically, people are in the mood to buy. The grass is green, flowers are blooming and the trees are filling out. Houses simply look better when they are surrounded by greenery and flowers. The warmer weather puts people in a good mood making them more willing to buy and sell.
But not this year. And according to the National Association of Realtors, the decline was even more dramatic, 15.3 percent, compared with a year ago when sales surged in the spring.
But don’t worry, Washington Post reporter Cezary Podkul (clearly going off the White House talking points) will make you feel better. She says “But the start of this year’s spring buying season has coincided with a series of shocks — from March’s earthquake in Japan and a spate of floods and tornadoes in the South to a spike in oil prices caused by unrest in the Middle East.”
That’s right, an earthquake 9,000 miles away, some storms and that annoying Middle East are to blame. I feel so much better that it has nothing to do with our President’s failed economic policies.