Math & Methodology of Housing Numbers

Doug Kass' article, The Simple Math of Subprime's Slide:

It is truly remarkable how the slightest provocation (last week's "solid" home-sales headline) had the media and other permabullish types declare that the housing market has finally bottomed (again!) and that the impact on the subslime mess would be contained.

Nicholas Yulico's article, Home-Sales Data Debated:

The Commerce Department reported much-worse-than-expected new-home sales data for February, with sales dropping 3.9% from January and inventories hitting fresh highs.

The news comes after seemingly positive housing data last week. The National Association of Realtors reported Friday that sales of existing homes climbed nearly 4% in February, beating economists' estimates.

My observations later...