It seems the news has become particularly gloomy about the U.S. housing market during this Holiday Season.
Yesterday the National Association of Realtors released the latest existing homes sales data for the month of November. Sales rose .4% in November compared to October. Calculated Risk provided some additional commentary and excellent charts on this news story here.
A few days earlier, the US Census Bureau released the November New Home Sales data stating that on average, new home sales volume was down 9% comparing November to October 2007. This was significantly lower that what most expectations were for the report.
The home builders are still having difficulty and that is likely to continue, in my opinion. all the way through 2008.