At least Larry Yun, Chief Economist for NAR, isn’t using the word “Temporary” in his monthly pronouncement that included the idea that subprime isn’t really that big of a deal.

This month’s series of helpful advice for all of us to savor:

>”There’s too much focus on the national figures,” Yun said. “National figures can dampen consumer confidence.”

– NAR posts national housing stats on a series of metrics every month.

>”The subprime mess is a Wall Street mess,” Yun said. “They made a huge gamble, and they lost. Subprime is a past event that’s unrelated to homebuying.

– Subprime and the credit crunch that followed has become such a large issue today that the president announced a plan for economic relief and the Fed chairman hinted at sharp rate cuts, primarily because of housing weakness.

>”Denver is one of the markets to watch,” Yun said. “Austin (Texas) already has seen a boom. Denver will be among the next markets to see a boom.”

– Since this was a speech he gave in Denver, I can’t help but think its a fill in the blank speech. “_______________________ is one of the markets to watch”

But seriously, this misinformation to consumers has got to stop. I can’t believe this advice hard core spin is being sanctioned by the trade group. Again, missing a golden opportunity to connect with consumers.


4 Comments

  1. Todd Carpenter January 19, 2008 at 3:36 am

    I won’t agree with the term “boom”, but Denver appears to be ahead of the curve on the market. We were among the first hit. But values appear to have stabilized.

    I won’t pretend to know what the future holds, but if I was Larry, and I was looking for a market to spin into good news, Denver would be a good choice.

  2. Jim Duncan January 19, 2008 at 8:48 am

    Shameful. I have yet to find one Realtor “on the ground” who approves of this disinformation campaign. NAR Leadership, needs to wake up.

  3. Just me January 19, 2008 at 11:56 am

    Great show Jonatan 🙂
    Maybe They forgat to read stat???

  4. John K January 19, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    Jim: I think if you went into the suburbs, you’d find a lot of Realtors who support the PR, unfortunately. I’m not sure why I think that, but I do. Also, I think those agents who handle sales are more likely to feel the need for PR, versus buyers’ agents (such as myself) who just want plain facts disbursed.

    It makes you wonder … what if like-minded people put together a new organization for real estate agents, would it work? Would they flock to it over NAR?

    H-m-m-m.

    I wonder …

Comments are closed.