Why “Trouble is Brewing” for the U.S. Housing Market

We keep hearing about the “Housing Madness” that shows “No Signs of Slowing.” A would-be renter offered $2 million for a summer rental in the Hamptons and was turned down! Still, there are subtle but important signs of trouble in paradise. As the chart shows, total new and existing home sales made a countertrend rally high in October, which was still 21% below the all-time high in July 2005. As we have noted, home price declines follow home sales declines.