NAR Existing Home Sales Report: Bait and Switch Headline

The headline read, "Existing Home Sales Rise in February", but the real story in yesterday's existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors was four short paragraphs in:

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $195,900 in February, down 8.2 percent from a year earlier when the median was $213,500.

Once again, don't confuse a modest rebound in sales volume with an imminent rebound in sales price. As long as inventory is at historic highs and sales volume is near historic lows, prices will continue to fall.

That slightly larger blue bar below is virtually meaningless as long as that red curve is as high as it is.

Now, if the government steps in and starts buying houses, maybe the blue and red in the chart will move a little closer - we'll see.

Also in the NAR sales report is the following:

Home prices within metropolitan areas are more telling. The most recent data shows roughly half of the metro areas in the U.S. with price increases, with healthy gains in markets such as Oklahoma City and Trenton, N.J.

What is conveniently left out of this bit of optimistic drivel is that the "most recent data" is from the third quarter of 2007, before all the bad stuff started happening. Some time ago, the NAR cited these statistics and they claimed price increases in two-thirds of metro areas - that was for data through June of 2007.

Look for these claims to disappear as soon as the fourth quarter data is available.

This is kind of disgusting when you think about it.

Comments

[t-bird:]

NAR is a self-serving organization. They only tell half truths. I am a Realtor/member and it pains me how they try to spin everything to the positive.
Perhaps that is one reason the profession has such a bad perception by the public.

2008 Mar 25 08:45 AM

[p2pvoice:]

They also left out that 40% of those sales were foreclosures.

2008 Mar 25 09:08 AM

[pochovilla:]

"Mortgage rates are down, the selection is great, it's a great time to buy real estate before the prices go up" Real estate sales manager practicing a speech in front to of a mirror.

2008 Mar 25 09:54 AM

[Jane:]

And the housing thinks it's the "victim" of the housing crash instead of a cause of it.

2008 Mar 25 12:48 PM

["Magazine-C...:]

Good point user 133274.

NAR would actually be better off if prices adjusted rapidly! At this point, that big lag in info is actually becoming harmful to realtors.

2008 Mar 25 01:25 PM

[Totally a b...:]

These realtors and NAR are even worst than cheap filthy whores, if they see a prospect, they would do anything to get in bed with them and convince them that "buying a house in a down market is not that bad if you are planning to live in the house for the long term." Yeah, right MOFOs! These scams and blood suckers will rot in hell for the millions of people they have defrauded by alluring them to buy during the peak and have resulted in millions of destroyed life.

2008 Mar 25 02:00 PM

[Eric Boughton_:]

This is the same NAR which has sponsored TV ads recently touting homes because "prices double every ten years". Even leaving aside recent housing market weakness, none of the data I have seen agrees with this claim. I have e-mailed NAR for support, have been promised a response, and have yet to hear back.

2008 Mar 25 03:07 PM

[dickjanine:]

Wake up to reality. Don't be so quick to condemn and blame. As if the "innocent buyers" were taken advantage of. What a joke. Those BAD realtors talked me into buying a much larger piece of property in 1999, and when I saw the market weakening in
2005 I sold. Did you, Mr. Victim?

2008 Mar 25 03:57 PM

[dickjanine:]

Wake up to reality. Don't be so quick to condemn and blame. As if the "innocent buyers" were taken advantage of. What a joke. Those BAD realtors talked me into buying a much larger piece of property in 1999, and when I saw the market weakening in
2005 I sold. Did you, Mr. Victim?

2008 Mar 25 03:57 PM

[poor&unempl...:]

I do not know why would anyone care about National Association of Robber's opinion. Just look back at the track record of this organization. They lie. Realtors are worst than used car salesmen/women. They gain peoples trust and betray the trust all without any accountability.

2008 Mar 25 11:12 PM

[ILikeBond:]

There's NEVER been a better time to buy! <thumbsup>

2008 Mar 26 04:14 AM

[TheyKnowNot...:]

Not the time to buy especially for california. Orinda prices gone up, pleasant hill owners still trying to make a 100k from the property they purchased back in 2002
DUN BUY

2008 Mar 26 01:41 PM

[Kirk Coburn:]

There is not a more disgraceful profession than that of a Realtor. They make Lawyers look like the Pope.

2008 Mar 26 09:48 PM