Inventory numbers and selective reality

This quote also from the FOXnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,224881,00.html
'The inventory of unsold homes, after climbing to all-time highs, fell for a second straight month, decreasing 2.4 percent, to 3.75 million unsold homes at the end of September, which represents a 7.3 months supply at the September sales pace.'

(Vern) - Perhaps I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but this report leaves me feeling grouchy.

Is that all there is? Are there any more facts, like how many homes were pulled off the market because the listings became stale?

I know that real estate agents can pull a listing, leave no trace of its having been on the market in the MLS, and then reintroduce it at a lower price as a ‘New Listing’ a couple of months later.
What ever works…
My point being that there is more than one possibility for inventory numbers to drop on paper. I’m sure I’m not aware of all the creative possibilities, but the released stats don’t jibe with what I see when I put my head out of the window for a look around at the real world.

True, there may be investors or large numbers of private buyers who see their local markets as being over sold and pulling the trigger on that new home purchase, but I feel there’s something more to the inventory numbers than that simple statement implies.

I for one will be on the sidelines for some time, but I’ve been wrong before.

Vern