NAR SHILL SPEAKS

This is pretty funny.

Supply of homes on market at 22-year high
Existing-home sales pace falls to 4.97 million for October, off 1.2%
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:03 PM ET Nov 28, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of existing homes fell for an eighth straight month in October even as more properties came on the U.S. housing market, driving the supply of homes up for sale to the highest level in 22 years, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.

The sales pace stands at the lowest seen since 1999, when the group began tracking combined sales of single-family homes and condominiums.

The inventory of unsold homes rose by 1.9% to 4.45 million, representing a 10.8-month supply, the highest in at least eight years.

For single-family homes alone, the inventory of 10.5 months is the highest since July 1985.

As bleak as the data are, the fundamentals of the market don't support a further decline in sales, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, who said low mortgage rates and job growth should keep sales from falling. While the subprime mortgage market has disappeared, the Federal Housing Administration is picking up its lending.

"I don't anticipate any further major sales declines," Yun said. However, the NAR didn't anticipate the sales declines of the past two years, and it's been predicting a bottom nearly every month since early 2006.