Mm, just as we thought. Pending home sales fell in July— even more than expected. Which is, at this point, perfectly expected. Still, the pending home sales index has seen worse days (83 in March, versus July's 86.5), so things aren't quite as bleak as they could be (knock wood). The National Association of Realtors blames the drop on stringent lending criteria set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Good thing they're getting beamed back up to the mothership then, right? [NYT]
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