Fake Housing News? More Like a Missing Decimal Point
Nearly 15 million homes sold nationwide in April, May and June, according to new data released last week by the Commerce Department and National Association of Realtors.”
–“2020 is the Summer of Booming Home Sales ” and Evictions”; The Washington Post (7/27/2020).
Maybe it was due to the ungodly hour the article was published: 5 a.m. this morning.
Theory #2: the article’s author doesn’t regularly cover the housing market.
Regardless, I’m pretty sure The Post meant to say that 1.5 million homes sold in the 2nd quarter of 2020, not 15 million.
Peak Annual Sales: 7 Million in 2005
That’s based on the record annual total for existing home sales — 7.08 million units — set in 2005, and annual sales ranging from 4 million to 5.5 million since then.
Unfortunately, getting such a crucial statistic that wrong casts doubt on the accuracy of everything else in the article.
Look for the correction later today . . .
See also, “Mentioned in NY Times.”
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Update: The Post ran the correction (below) about 30 minutes ago. You’re welcome . . . 🙂
