This whole story however does point out the need for an overhaul of the charts system, as leaving out digital download data can skew the numbers dramatically.
Cynical types suspect that any and all efforts will be made to skew economic data towards the positive in the coming months and traders may be buying into that cynicism as a variation on the greater fool theory of investing.
Professor Siegel counters this assertion by noting that the 10-year look-back contains a skew in earnings data associated with the financial sector during the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Stephen Walters, chief economist at JP Morgan, said there was some "static" in the data with volatility in high density housing data in New South Wales helping to skew the result, but added it was still clear that a downtrend is underway in housing.