It’s been said “there are no atheists in foxholes.” Apparently, the economic equivalent is “there are no true Free Marketers during depressions,” either . . .
–Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture
Regular readers know I’m a big fan of blogger (and fellow former attorney) Barry Ritholtz (“The Big Picture”).
Quotes like the one above are a big reason why.
P.S.: Unfortunately, Ritholtz doesn’t return the favor — at least professionally speaking.
He regularly trashes Realtors, and in particular, their (our) trade organization, NAR (the National Association of Realtors).
I chalk it up to “mother issues” (Ritholtz’s was a Realtor).
LOL
I trash BAD realtor associations — the NAR 1) are why so many sellers have unrealistic expectations on prices, 2) constantly cheerlead data, even if it stinks; 3) Helped appraisal fraud find a home during the boom; 4) refuse to admit homes were too pricey. ever.
PS: Love Minneapolis — great town
“Never ask a barber if you need a haircut,” as they say, and never ask a trade association to put a negative spin on industry data, I suppose.
In a decade selling real estate, I’ve yet to have a single client cite NAR analysis in deciding to buy.
And the last 5 years have pretty much disabused EVERYONE of rosy housing forecasts.
There’s no question David Lereah (“Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom”) overdid it, but NAR would have fired him just as fast if he had sounded the alarm about a building housing bubble.
Which many people did, by the way . . . in 2003, and 2004, and . .