I'm not sure why you would have to adjust for population...maybe I'm missing something though.
Inventory levels are definitely up, which is reflected in the "months inventory" category. Overall though, 3.3 months is still considered to be a seller's market. The 2.5 months we had last year was one of the lowest in the history of the market, so it's not shocking that it has gone up.
Overall inventory numbers are interesting, but don't tell the whole story. They are higher than that in a lot of areas and depending on the price range. Later in the month, we'll get more specific numbers that break things down by segment.
My point was just that I expected there to be a larger drop in total sales volume, which didn't take place.