Housing Doom Housing Bubble Blog

According to Bloomberg this morning:

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the U.S. fell more than expected in October, suggesting the housing market has yet to hit bottom.

An index of signed purchase agreements fell 1.7 percent to 107.2 from 109.1 in September, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The index dropped 13.2 percent from October 2005.

The housing slowdown threatens to weigh on the economy by removing a source of consumer wealth. The housing market may extend its slump as affordability remains close to the lowest in two decades and potential buyers wait for prices to fall further.

The National Association of Realtors states that pending sales are not only down 1.7% from September, but down 13.2% YOY.
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We’re rounding the final turn to the Season, and holiday spirit has come to the castle.

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My father used to delight in this silly riddle.

Q: What do you get when you cross a tiger with a parrot?
A: I don’t know, but when it talks, you better listen.

Doom reader K is that kind of guy. Every once in a while he’ll shoot an arrow over the battlements with a message attached suggesting we should really, really consider some story or angle we had never thought of. The last time he pointed out Technical Olympic as a straw-in-the-wind for credit contraction. Now he’s asking Doomers to take a long hard look at a recent client analysis [1] by Bill Gross, managing director of PIMCO bond, "one of the largest specialty fixed income managers in the world". Independent blogger and Doom stalwart Jan-Martin also noted [2] the Gross piece, and his comments can be read in combination with K’s analysis.

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