GOOD NEWS

New home sales spiked 17.5% MoM in Dec, eclipsing the 3.5% median expectation. But, there’s always a but, the gain was led by a 70% jump in new home sales in the West. Every other region was flat. So all it took was a pop from 4,000 sales to (hold your breath) 7,000 sales in Dec in the West to generate a seasonally adjusted 17.5% annualized surge in new housing activity. Don’t uncork the champagne yet!