Como se combate o populismo? "Com eleições", responde Fukuyama

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10:00am 01/25/06 NAR: SPECULATORS ARE PULLING OUT OF HOUSING MARKETS
10:00am 01/25/06 U.S. DEC. EXISTING HOME PRICES UP 10.5% YEAR-OVER-YEAR
10:00am 01/25/06 U.S. DEC. EXISTING HOME INVENTORY 5.1 MONTH SUPPLY
10:00am 01/25/06 U.S. 2005 EXISTING HOME SALES RECORD 7.07 MILLION
10:00am 01/25/06 U.S. DEC. EXISTING HOME SALES LOWEST SINCE MARCH 2004
10:00am 01/25/06 U.S. DEC. EXISTING HOME SALES WEAKER THAN 6.98M EXPECTED
10:00am 01/25/06 U.S. DEC. EXISTING HOME SALES FALL 5.7% TO 6.60MLN RATE

ECONOMIC REPORT: Existing home sales fall 5.7% in Dec.; For 2005, record 7.072 million homes changed hands
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:07 AM ET Jan. 25, 2006

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Sales of existing homes in the United States fell 5.7% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.60 million, the lowest in nearly two years, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.

Sales were much weaker than the 6.89 million expected by economists. Sales have fallen three months in a row.

"Speculators are pulling out," said David Lereah, chief economist for the realtor group.

Inventories of unsold homes fell 4.4% to 2.796 million in December, a 5.1-month supply.

Median prices increased 10.5% year-on-year to $211,000 in December.

For all of 2005, 7.072 million homes were sold, the fifth annual record in a row. Prices increased 12.7% in 2005 to a median price of $208,700.

The slowdown in housing is due to higher mortgage rates and high home prices, Lereah said. He said December's 6.6 million sales pace could be the low; he expects sales to plateau.

The slowdown in sales is not just in the hottest markets, but in some local areas that never experienced a boom, such as Detroit, Texas and Ohio, Lereah said.