Imagine. People built big, expensive houses the market wouldn’t buy. In Buncombe County, average house prices tripled in less than twenty years. The average home selling price last October was $328,350. This October, it is $261,982. Since zoning won’t let people convert McMansions into duplexes, the federal government had to sustain the strained, regulated market with money it is making up and handing out to grow its deficit.

The article in the Citizen-Times says October housing sales were 15.7% higher than last year. Does that mean nineteen houses sold last October? To find out, one must return to the web site or buy a paper.