How many here bought a house between 2007 and 2010 based partially on whatever positive spin your real estate agent may have used from the National Association of Realtors data? You participated in being fooled, at being an easy mark. You may have been told how there was activity, act now, etc. There was far less activity than previously claimed.
The NAR has released revised home sales figures. The National Association of Realtors revised existing home sales from 2007 to 2010 down by 14%. 2010 revised downwardly by 15%. This is confirmation of what everyone without rose colored glasses observed for themselves. Residential RE was undergoing a complete and utter pole axing during those years. The NAR calls these huge changes, “benchmark revisions”. Right. There was once a time when revisions meant perhaps a 2 or 3% adjustment. This isn’t a revision. This is a complete re-do of previous false data.
A side diatribe
Face it, realtors for the most part are simply salespeople on steroids (because of the value of the transactions). Yes, they have to pass courses and get a license, but this merely elevates the skills of any old car salesman to that of being a so called "professional" (in many cases, this is true of your stock broker). Now, I say 'for the most part', because my wife happens to be a realtor. She tells it like it is to potential customers. That means she looses out on a lot of potential sale opportunities. She doesn't want to play the game of going along with the home seller and listing a property at an excessive price that will only sit, which is still a problem, at least here in the lower Hudson valley. There are some good realtors (more shilling for my wife, but she deserves a good word, after all she donated a kidney to me and saved my life!), but they are in the minority. Most will do anything to get a listing and will say anything to get someone to buy. Watch out for them... the 3 to 6% commission makes it too tempting for most of them to be really above board. They are seduced by going to the closing table and getting that big commission check.
Rant Over
I would love to hear how the cadre of realtors are explaining this stuff away. lol.
Bottom Line: There is nothing good from these revisions. Deeper and as yet to be reported repercussions are likely in the new homes market. It is not out of the realm of possibility that starts of new construction may have had a basis in some form of over optimism about existing homes data. Oh, the possibilities. Time will tell.
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