Frazzled bears got a chance to relax Wednesday on news that pending home sales had fallen far more steeply in July than anticipated. Unnamed 'economists' reportedly were 'expecting' a drop of about 2 percent, but the actual figure was more than six times that, 12.2%. The Dow Industrials fell 200 points during the day as a result, and although the blue chip average recouped some of that on uncharacteristically mellow short covering, settlement was still an ugly 143 points below the previous day's close. We don't personally know any economists who were expecting a mere 2% decline in home sales, but it suggests that there are at least a few out there who live in a warp. CETA holdovers, perhaps? Friends of Larry Kudlow? Whatever the case, it seems obvious that they haven't been getting out much lately. Neither, I would surmise, has my otherwise astute pen-pal Fred, a Bostonian who thinks a cheap dollar will continue to suck a torrent of foreign money into U.S. real estate. He may be right about that, at least for a while, but I would disagree on whether it will suffice to push real estate prices higher more or less forever. Upper East Side Miami Beach and New York City's Upper East Side are two other places where foreigners have moved far too much speculative money into residential real estate. You ought to see all of the unoccupied condos in my friend Ellen's building in Bal Harbour -- and the mega-complex of residential high-rises under construction by Trump a couple of miles to the north. A big bust is taking shape in both places, for sure -- and what a pity so many of the owners will never have much enjoyed the accommodations for which they paid so dearly. Upper East-Siders reportedly are
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