FINALLY! A Real Reporter Dissects the Flawed Foreclosure Data….
There’s a regular ritual that the mainstream press, news and policy makers engage in. Private companies release press releases that suggest DRAMATIC TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE IN…..(PICK YOUR MARKET)! It works like this:
FORECLOSURES IN TAMPA INCREASED 2139% IN JUNE 2012!
HOME PRICES SURGE 456% IN FIRST QUARTER 2012!
MARK ZANDI SAYS EVERYONE IN AMERICA SHOULD BUY REAL ESTATE NOW!
FORECLOSURE CRISIS IN AMERICA IS OVER!
FORECLOSURE CRISIS IN AMERICA IS GETTING MUCH WORSE!
These press releases are picked up by newspapers all across America where lazy reporters and sloppy editors fail to analyze the data and fail to cross check the assertions made in the press releases. No time anymore to engage in the difficult and time consuming process of actually taking all the data apart and understand exactly what it means….much less determine whether the data is accurate.
The problem is, the headlines do not accurately capture what is really happening out in neighborhoods all across America….but who cares…after all…
THERE’S HEADLINES TO WRITE, PUBLIC OPINION TO SHAPE, POLICY TO MAKE!
Rest here…
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Powerful interests have long owned and utilized the media, otherwise the people would actually realize they are being outrageously taken advantage of. Truth, accuracy and facts. Just the kind of thing we wouldn’t want in a kleptocracy!
Propaganda and spin!. Copy! As a real estate broker and appraiser, I smile when the latest press release hits the ticker. I know it is going to have a positive spin. Like, SALES ARE UP: (Translation: more REOs and shorts hit the market), MEDIAN PRICES DOWN: Translation, REOs/Shorts dominate market sales; BUYER OPPORTUNITY: Translation: first time buyers are the only buyers who can purchase, people moving up or down are frozen in space with underwater mortgages. BUILDING PERMITS UP: Translation, they aren’t building except in high demand pockets, presold units. PREMIUM LOT OPPORTUNTIES: Translation: builders went belly up and banks are begging to sell lots for a third of price (no takers).
and on and on
Will we ever get truth? The real market is still falling in many areas, which bodes ill for current homeowners. Billions of equity lost.
And still our government does nothing. Romney shouts deregulation, more of the same and Obama is campaigning for his 2nd term.
Congress? Well they are doing what they always do! Voting against the healthcare bill for the 34th time or NOTHING!
You couldn’t say it better talktotennessee you couldn’t better