The trouble with statistics...............................

On why it is important to look behind, between, under, over, and around the numbers before accepting them at face value:

“Three straight months of national home value appreciation above 10 percent is not normal, not sustainable and, frankly, not very believable. As the overall housing market continues to improve, the impact of foreclosure re-sales on the Case-Shiller indices continues to be pronounced, as homes previously sold under duress trade again under more normal circumstances, leading to inflated and misleading markups in price,” 
- Dr. Svenja Gudell, senior economist for Zillow as excerpted from here

enlargeable chart is here