March 24th, 2008 by jason

I was just reading the latest housing market commentary on the National Association of Realtors website. I had to chuckle a bit as the NAR commentary tries to paint the best picture of the housing market possible. I guess my perspective, knowing the financing/debt markets better than most average people, allows me to see through much of the rhetoric that economists, REALTORS and other “experts” spew on a daily basis.  I think it is pretty easy to understand that a four-one-hundreths of a percent increase in home sales month over month is marginal at best…and that surely one cannot deduce anything about the housing market using only this one statistic.

Of course, as I drove to the office this morning, the news on the radio was all roses with regards to the housing market. “We have turned the corner” one expert said. I think I laughed out loud and I hope others listening did as well. What scares me most is that the overwhelming majority of people in this country have no clue what is going on in the debt markets. They have no idea how fragile some of the largest financial institutional players are right now. Leveraged to the hilt, it is not going to take much of a hiccup for more of the big boys to take the same path as Bear Stearns. Of course, you will hear shock and awe from the interviews of everyday employees and passers by when listening to the radio and reading the paper.  I was never one to be a media basher in the past, but the more I learn and the less I watch the nightly and local news, the more I realize that the media is making a mountain out of a mole hill 99% of the time.

I guess that is enough ranting for one morning. Have a good one.

tags: media, nar, national association of realtors, housing market, real estate

Content Tags:Housing Market Media NAR National Association of REALTORS Real Estate