My favorite quotes of mine from last year regarding the forecast:
"So why, when faced by the one crowd whose job it is to educate and prepare for the upcoming season do they sugar coat the price decline issue? It is really unfortunate that they can't bring themselves to be realistic as good information will be one of the things that will help this situation normalize."
And:
"I think the CAR doesn't have any data models or anything sophisticated they just forecast sales and prices +/- 5% and then adjust throughout the year based on incoming data."
I'll have to think some more on the forecast and go through the presentation a bit more to formulate an opinion. But my guess is they are underestimating the median price improvement (due to the mix shift that I believe will happen in 2010) and overestimating sales. I am reminded of some wise words I once heard, "If your numbers are off more than 10%, you are just guessing". The CAR is just guessing and people give their opinion way too much credit.
New Forecast for 2010:
June 2009 Forecast:
April 2009 Forecast:
Updated January 2009 Forecast..
January 2009 Forecast:
December 2008 Forecast:
October 2008 Forecast:
December 2008 Forecast:
October 2008 Forecast:
2 comments:
CAR and NAR suck. It is really unfortunate that their constant pimping of homes during the runup didn't cause enough distrust among the general population to disrupt their standard business practices. I truly hope that with the large amount of data that is now easily available on the internet, their fundamental business model is forced to change.
Ask your friendly neighborhood realtor when, over the past 5 years, he has actually said to a client, "Ya know, it might actually NOT be the right time to buy." They are a bunch of liars and thieves that have complicated the home buying process to justify their existence.
I hate the CAR and NAR and many (most?) of their members.
PS. I dont use the word hate a lot.
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