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housing prices

by sq720 » Sun May 17, 2009 6:39 pm
17. Ronald: According to my analysis of the national economy, housing prices should not increase during the next six months unless interest rates drop significantly.
Mark: I disagree. One year ago, when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.
It can be inferred from the conversation above that Mark has interpreted Ronald’s statement to mean that
(A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months

C
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Can someone explain this?

by tamina1 » Mon May 18, 2009 5:49 am
Pls explain why OMA is C
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by rahulg83 » Mon May 18, 2009 6:25 am
Why not D? Anybody pls..
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by goelmohit2002 » Mon May 18, 2009 7:22 am
IMO "C" is directly contradicted by the following statement in the question itself...

"when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all. "....

What is the problem with "D"....it looks to be correct....
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Re: housing prices

by vinaynp » Mon May 18, 2009 7:41 am
sq720 wrote:17. Ronald: According to my analysis of the national economy, housing prices should not increase during the next six months unless interest rates drop significantly.
Mark: I disagree. One year ago, when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.
It can be inferred from the conversation above that Mark has interpreted Ronald’s statement to mean that
(A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months

C
A) => too extreme.
C) => contradicts
D) => too extreme
E) => cannot be interpreted

B) => This is a milder version of D). Hence my answer.

What is the source of this question?
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by hmboy17 » Mon May 18, 2009 8:09 am
My answers would also be B. I don't understand the QA which is C. Pls share the source and explanation if possible.
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by hmboy17 » Mon May 18, 2009 8:09 am
My answers would also be B. I don't understand the QA which is C. Pls share the source and explanation if possible.
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by goelmohit2002 » Mon May 18, 2009 10:50 am
Yes Looking at the question again "B" looks better.

A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall => opposite of what Mark says.
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise => Correct. That is his whole point of argument.
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together => As per his example, the opposite is the case last year.
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices => We can't say that....no where Mark says so.
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months => Obviously wrong. IMO this is totally irrelevant.
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by thetrystero » Tue May 19, 2009 10:59 pm
17. Ronald: According to my analysis of the national economy, housing prices should not increase during the next six months unless interest rates drop significantly.
Mark: I disagree. One year ago, when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.
It can be inferred from the conversation above that Mark has interpreted Ronald’s statement to mean that
(A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months
My choice: D
C, E are wrong.
A: cause/effect reversed.
B is close. Although this is indeed what Ronald said, he made that statement in light of the economic situation.
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Re: housing prices

by thetrystero » Tue May 19, 2009 11:02 pm
sq720 wrote:17. Ronald: According to my analysis of the national economy, housing prices should not increase during the next six months unless interest rates drop significantly.
Mark: I disagree. One year ago, when interest rates last fell significantly, housing prices did not increase at all.
It can be inferred from the conversation above that Mark has interpreted Ronald’s statement to mean that
(A) housing prices will rise only if interest rates fall
(B) if interest rates fall, housing prices must rise
(C) interest rates and housing prices tend to rise and fall together
(D) interest rates are the only significant economic factor affecting housing prices
(E) interest rates are likely to fall significantly in the next six months

C
OA posted is obviously wrong.

@sq720: please post correct OA and source.
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sorry

by sq720 » Mon May 25, 2009 5:33 am
the correct answer is B sorry for the typoo
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by Musicolo » Mon May 25, 2009 7:26 am
Could be either B or D. this one is a lucky guess as they both seem fine.
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by Domnu » Thu May 28, 2009 6:21 am
I don't think the answer can be D; Mark's statement only entailed the effect of interest rates on the house prices. Nowhere did he mention anything about "only significant" economic factor... there could be other significant factors.

This leaves B to be the right answer... it is the converse of Ron's statement.
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by gmatplayer » Thu May 28, 2009 7:32 am
"Must" in (B) is too extreme

Statement never says or implies "Only significant factor" so (D) cannot be inferred

(C) on the other hand may imply:
When there was significant drop in interest last year" prices did not increase at all", so price might have decreased a little (possible). So they tend to rise & fall together can be the inferrence.
I would have selected (C)
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by gmatplayer » Thu May 28, 2009 7:32 am
"Must" in (B) is too extreme

Statement never says or implies "Only significant factor" so (D) cannot be inferred

(C) on the other hand may imply:
When there was significant drop in interest last year" prices did not increase at all", so price might have decreased a little (possible). So they tend to rise & fall together can be the inferrence.
I would have selected (C)
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