Friday’s new housing sales data was troubling. February sales of 618,000 were up just 0.5% Y-o-Y and YTD sales are up just 2%! Maybe it’s the new tax laws, maybe it’s rates; in a few months we’ll know. The immediate problem; new home prices are skyrocketing, up 9.7% Y-o-Y, and inventories of (increasingly highly priced) new homes are at 5.9 months so they’re regrettably balanced. New cheaper homes remain MIA!