re: "It's an election year"
That just has to do with the constant screams of "Doom! Doom!" from the media. And others.
I don't watch network or cable news. I do hear radio news updates, and go through my daily paper. Granted I have limited data points, but it's still instructive to see what gets constant play, and what gets tossed off on the back pages. I've heard about ten times as much on the low figures on new housing sales today as I heard a few days back on the improvement on existing housing sales.