The Wall Street Journal Online has an article (subscription required) containing the latest bit of “good” news about the housing bubble.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes and condominiums dropped by 5.7% in December compared to the sales pace in November. It marked the third consecutive monthly decline, something that has not occurred in more than three years.[...]
The inventory of homes on the market increased to 5.1 months last month, compared with November’s unrevised 5.0 months, NAR said. By region of the country, sales were down 11.4% in the West, 7.2% in the South and 2.6% in the Midwest. The level of sales was unchanged in the Northeast.
I’ve seen a few blogs out there hyping the bursting of the bubble. In some local markets, that’s probably an apt metaphor. However, hopefully in much of the rest of the country, it will be more of a soft deflation, rather than a sudden shock.
Of course, here in my corner of the world, the way that new developments have burst onto the scene within the past couple of years, easing what had been a very tight supply of housing in north/central Connecticut… perhaps we’ll eventually hear that slow “hiss” of deflation turn into the “pop” of a bubble bursting.