Mainstream headlines are saying, “home sales have slowed.” And on the surface, that’s true. January’s existing-home sales number came in down 8.4% from December, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 3.91 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But here’s the question I want to explore today. Did demand actually slow, or did unusually cold January weather interfere with the mechanics of completing transactions in a way that makes the data look worse than the underlying reality?

Now before you leave, today’s podcast episode was an experiment. The podcast sounded like me, even to me. But it was not me. It was actually a synthesized version of my voice using artificial intelligence. This is the technology of Eleven Labs at work. I provided about 30 minutes of recorded audio from myself in order to train the AI to create a voice that sounds like me. I’d like feedback from you the listener. Drop me an email at victor@victorjm.com and let me know if you could tell it was not me. Maybe you thought it was actually me talking. Let me know that as well. I’d like to know either way. Let me be clear, I have no intention of stopping recording the podcast live.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
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What Happened To Home Sales?