More to read on Friday night...Article from USA,housing crisis....
The Housing Market Is Not Making a Comeback Mar 27, 2008 The National Association of Realtors has been working overtime to convince consumers that the housing market is beginning to turn around. What's worse is that some media outlets are buying the story and passing it on to people who are looking for real news.
BY PAT SUMMERS
Two days ago, I was having a casual conversation with a friend. We somehow ended up on the topic of housing.
'Housing is making a comeback,' he said confidently.
After snorting in amusement and choking a little bit on my drink, I said, 'No, it's not.'
'Yeah, it is. I heard it on the news this morning. They said the housing market is turning around.'
Of course, he couldn't remember exactly what they said, only that the message was positive. I couldn't help being curious about that. After following the housing market (and writing about it) on an almost daily basis for a few years now, I have seen no evidence that housing is anywhere near the end of its downward spiral.
A few hours later, I hit the Internet to see if I could dig up the strange news report he had witnessed. Since he didn't give me very many details to go on, I had no way of knowing exactly which story he heard.
But I think I may have found the source: the NAR.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has been flirting with fraud for more than two years now. The trade organization has claimed repeatedly that housing is poised to stabilize at any moment. They have called the bottom no less than 10 times and have knowingly and purposely misled consumers and the media for self-serving reasons.
Even as it became obvious that we were in a housing bubble that was likely to explode and leave people sorry that they ever considered buying a house, the NAR pumped out commercial after commercial saying 'now is a good time to buy.' NAR's chief economist --who recently resigned--put out two ridiculous books during this time filled with misrepresentations: Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom? and Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust
Nevertheless, the media often takes NAR press releases, forecasts and quotes at face value. I find it irritating since the association has proved time and time again that they are not only terrible at forecasting, but that they are willing to lie to keep up the flow of profits in their industry.
I am relatively sure that my friend's misguided statement stems from the most recent NAR press release, which states:
'Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range.'
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist was quoted in the release as saying, 'We're not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing.'
The aforementioned statement and Yun's quote appear at the very top of the press release because the NAR is desperate to put a good spin on the real news:
Home sales were down 23.8 percent in a year-over-year comparison.
The year-over-year figure is the figure that matters. The other number, the one the NAR put the most focus on, is really just a seasonal change. In other words, it is not an actual improvement in sales.
Unfortunately, some reporters were too lazy or not savvy enough to read all the way through the release and therefore missed the important number. (The only other option is that they are trying to put a good spin on the news too, which is almost too distasteful to consider.)
Respectable outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that home sales were getting better, never mentioning that sales have actually declined significantly in a year-over-year comparison.
I have a feeling that these news reports and others like them are the reason why my friend is so confident that 'the housing market is turning around.'
