Richard Green is a professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. This blog will feature commentary on the current state of housing, commercial real estate, mortgage finance, and urban development around the world. It may also at times have ruminations about graduate business education.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
No more goosing with tax credits please.
The July Existing Home Sales number of 3.8 million units was abysmal--it was 1980s bad. I am guessing that a lot is it is that July gave back the tax credit driven boost of spring. If we look at average sales for the year, it is 5.1 million, which is pretty much normal. March, April, May and June were above normal, but all of that "strength" was given back in July. Credits just pull sales forward--they don't change the underlying dynamic, and they add to the deficit.
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