It seems that being surprised by the economy is a requirement for an economist to be a source for the Washington Post. The first sentence of a Post article on January existing home sales and GDP revisions told readers that: "Sales of previously owned houses unexpectedly slumped in January." The main surprised economist featured in the article was Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. Of course economists who follow the housing market more closely were not surprised. The plunge in mortgage applications following the initial expiration of the first time homebuyers tax credit in November indicated that sales of new and existing homes was likely to fall.
--Dean Baker
