Wall Street Greek: Existing Home Sales Collapsed

Last week provided some eye-catching real estate data, namely a severe dip in existing home sales for February. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports the data and speculated that the meaningful decline might be due to the tight inventory situation. However, I see a temporary issue at play in February that has since corrected. I expect that signals that the pace of home sales will be restored in short time. Real estate investors can rest easy, as I see this year’s expansion for housing intact. See more on why you can rest easy about the decline in existing home sales.

Housing Relative Shares	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+0.2%
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB)	-3.2%
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)	+1.2%
Pultegroup (NYSE: PHM)	+2.2%
Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL)	-13.9%
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)	-18.8%
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)	-9.7%
MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG)	-17.2%
Radian Group (NYSE: RDN)	-12.0%
Investors Title (Nasdaq: ITIC)	-8.6%
iShares Mortgage Real Estate (NYSE: REM)	-1.4%
Invesco Mortgage Capital (NYSE: IVR)	-2.1%
New Residential Investment (NYSE: NRZ)	-3.7%

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only. Editor's Note: Article should interest investors in Investors Title (Nasdaq: ITIC), Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC.OB), Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA.OB), UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: SRS), Ultra Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: URE), ING Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: IGR), Xinyuan Real Estate Co. (NYSE: XIN), Rydex Real Estate Fund H (Nasdaq: RYHRX), T. Rowe Price Real Estate Fund (Nasdaq: TRREX), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV), D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), Lennar (NYSE: LEN), K.B. Homes (NYSE: KBH), Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM), NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR), Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA), MDC Holdings (NYSE: MDC), Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL), Meritage Homes (NYSE: MTH), Brookfield Homes (NYSE: BHS), Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF), M/I Homes (NYSE: MHO), Orleans Homebuilders (AMEX: OHB), Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSE: VNQ), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Lowes (NYSE: LOW), Nasdaq: XNFZX, Nasdaq: FSAZX, Avatar Holdings (Nasdaq: AVTR), Apartment Investment & Management (NYSE: AIV), Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), Avalonbay Communities (NYSE: AVB), UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR), Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), Senior Housing Properties (NYSE: SNH), BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE), Home Properties (NYSE: HME), Mid-America Apartment (NYSE: MAA), Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC), Colonial Properties (NYSE: CLP), American Capital Agency (Nasdaq: AGNC), Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI), Associated Estates (NYSE: AEC), PennyMac Mortgage (NYSE: PMT), Two Harbors (AMEX: TWO), Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG).