Housing slide watch

Boockvar:

• April contract signings of existing homes fell a sharp 11.6% m/o/m, well more than expectations of a drop of just 1%.
• The Pending Home Sale index is at the lowest since Sept and is down 26.5% y/o/y from the tax credit induced spurt last year.
• Whether it was the known reasons of economic concerns, weather disasters in the South, and tight lending standards, the industry drag remains a major problem for the nation’s household wealth and health of the US banking system which is betting their balance sheets that home prices don’t double dip which they seem to be in the process of doing.