The National Association of Realtors announced this morning that existing home sales slowed 4.1 percent. There are now enough homes for sale on the market that if there weren’t one more home put up for sale it would take 7.3 months to clear out the industry. That’s the worst record since 1993 — 13 years ago!

If you want to read the NAR’s press release, click here: www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2006/08/ehsjuly07

What’s really interesting is what NAR Chief Economist David Lereah told USA Today in this morning’s edition: “I was disappointed, it was a lot lower than I anticipated,” said David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist. “What is clear to me is sellers are more stubborn than I expected them to be. We definitely need a correction in prices in order for buyers to come back into the market.”

Read the entire USA Today story here: www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2006-08-23-july-sales_x.htm

August 23, 2006.