Critical Reasoning

With problems in the mortgage industry and a declining economy, overall housing sales are down by more than 40% percent. Online real estate broker sites, however, have seen increased traffic and revenues are up by more than 10 percent in the slumping real estate market.

Each of the following, if true, helps to explain the improved performance of online real estate brokers during the housing slump EXCEPT:

During a slump in the housing market, buyers are more likely to shop online broker sites in search of the best possible price.
When the housing market is strong, both buyers and sellers rely on traditional real estate brokers in an order to buy or sell property more quickly.
The cost of selling a property with an online broker is a fraction of the cost of using a traditional real estate broker.
Online brokers devote more advertising resources to attracting customers during a downturn in the real estate market than do traditional retailers.
Customers of online brokers, but not customers of traditional brokers, can control the cost of listing and selling their house by choosing from a number of available packages and options.

[spoiler]{C}[/spoiler]?

I feel it is B

[spoiler]OA = B.

But why not A & C ???

Please explain.

TIA.[/spoiler]

In simple terms conclusion is Online retail sales have picked up. So we need something to weaken this.

So C- says it costs less to advertise on online sites, so naturally this would strengthen the conclusion not weaken.

A- says people are able to get better deals online, so this gain would strengthen the conclusion.

B-People prefer traditional methods of buying when the market is good, then the conclusion that online sales or profit from online interaction has increased will be weakened.

Hope I could help

I think the answer is B because it does nothing to explaint he discrpency, it just talks about something else,it is talking about the scenario when the market is strong..and that info is of no value to us.
The questions asks "Each of the following, if true, helps to explain the improved performance of online real estate brokers during the housing slump EXCEPT: " and B does nothing to explain about the weak market and why it increased online revenue.