I doubt that there are many of us who are not guilty of “cooking,” consciously or otherwise, the data collected in a university lab experiment to get the “right” answer. The National Association of Realtors did the same thing with the existing home sales report today. They didn’t like the number, so they changed the seasonal adjustment factor to make it seem better. Using the old SA factor, sales were 6.02 million SAAR, as compared to the reported 6.18 million SAAR. SA sales are now at mid-2003 levels.

Sales were down 16.3% from September 2005. This is a record annual sales decline. Note that sales are reported as of the close of escrow, so the September numbers really cover deals signed in July and August.

Median Prices dropped 2.2% from September 2005. Bloomberg: “… the biggest year- over-year decline since record-keeping began in 1969.”