While existing home sales are not a true barometer of new home sales, there was at least a bump up in existing home sales for May.  This rise of 2.4% to 4.77 million annualized units compares to 4.66 million units annualized in April and compares to Dow Jones consensus estimates of 4.80 million.  Before you celebrate too much that you can finally get rid of your I.O. loan, there is a reason here to suspect that the rise is there that isn’t necessarily the biggest news for sellers.

The original report for April was 4.68 million, so the 4.66 million is a slight revision lower.  But the real issue is that about one in three of the 4.77 million annualized sales were foreclosure or short sales.

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