AP Puts Lipstick on Housing Market Pig

Here is an excerpt from the AP story. (accent is mine)

AP reported:

U.S. homebuilders battered by the worst summer for home sales in a decade are already looking ahead to spring, saying they feel somewhat more optimistic about the prospect for an uptick in sales.

The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday its monthly index of builders' sentiment edged up in November to 16, the highest reading since June.

Here is a table of the Housing Market Index (HMI) for the last 25 years.

Via NewsBusters:

How anyone can look at that chart and feel in anyway optimistic the housing market has entered an upturn is beyond me.

Tom Blumer over at NewsBusters opined:

The AP's Veiga "somehow" forgot to tell readers that the NAHB's "highest since June" reading was really "the same as June." In historical context, saying something good about October's result is like getting excited when an 0-12 NFL team finally wins a game -- in overtime, because the refs blew a call that cost the other team the game.