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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> David Lereah, NAR's chief economist


David Lereah and hte NAR no longer have any credibility.  Lereah's 
predictions have been so far off the mark, the statistics he quotes have 
proven to be 
skewed and cooked to such an extent that many people are beginning to blame 
Lereah and the NAR for their impending financial dooooom!

Lereah is ostensibly an economist but he functions as the NAR's chief 
cheerleader.  During the rise of the housing bubble, the NAR added tens of 
thousands 
of members as everyone and his brother become a real estate agent (and a 
great 
many of them Realtors).  The NAR cannot by any means just come out and say, 
"The jig's up, housing sales and housing prices are poised to take a 
nosedive!" 
 So each report by Lereah and the NAR is several months behind reality with 
the stats twisted and skewed until the most favorable angle can be achieved 
to 
make it look as though things in the housing game aren't nearly as bad as 
they 
are in reality.

For example, desperate house sellers all over the country (this time it's not 
local, local, local which mantra we so often hear) are offering incentives 
like adding a swimming pool, a year's maid service, vacations, or a new car 
to 
avoid lowering the price of their houses too quickly.  Yet the NAR reports 
house prices with the incentives included so it won't look like prices are 
coming 
down as fast as they are.

Here is a blog dedicated to pointing out the extent to which what Lereah says 
differs from the facts:

davidlereahwatch.blogspot.com


But I finally find myself agreeing with Gene on this one:  There isn't a 
housing bubble.

There WAS a housing bubble.