Hard to know what to make of all the bubble talk these days, even as clear signs of a slowdown make their appearance. Today, checking out new U.S. Commerce Department numbers, we felt like borrowing a line from Mark Twain: the reports of new-homes market’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Sales of new single-family houses were sold at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.198 million units in April, 4.9 percent above the revised March rate of 1.142 million homes and far higher than analysts had predicted. That’s still 5.7 percent below sales in April ’05, and we’re looking at a hefty inventory – a nearly six-month supply of houses – but from where we’re sitting, the bubble, if there is one in Chicago, is facing a steady hiss, not a deafening pop.
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