When MikeZ first posted this in the comment section, I thought it was a joke. Lereah leaving the REIC? No way. But I guess he’s just moving on to Move.com, the REIC’s attempt to be hip and cool and compete with Zillow and Trulia. So, I put it to you, my brilliant readers… what is this man up to, really? seriously
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Reno Ignoramus
Who knows what he is up to. But we can all be certain that the following press release is close at hand:
“__________ _____________ was introduced today as new Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, suceeding David Lereah who recently announced his resignation. Mr. ___________, who most rccently served as Assistant Research Analyst for the National Association of Homebuilders, said he was honored and privileged to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Lereah. Mr. ____________ said it was an exciting time to become spokesman for the NAR. He said that it was becoming evident that the national housing market had seen the worst and that prices were expected to rise by the end of the year. “It was a rough 18 months” said Mr. _________, ‘but we are confident that the combination of continuing historically low interest rates and a strong national economy will result in appreciation returning to the housing market no later than the beginning of the fourth quarter. In fact’, said Mr. ____________, ‘I would say that there has never been a better time to buy.'”
MikeZ
[Suggestion box]
Diane, if you were to create a new weekly links/comments thread, it would give us posters some place to put odds and ends.
RE: David Lereah stepping down
You may not know this, but Mr. Lereah is the subject of ridicule all over the Internet.
In recent appearances on TV, hosts and interviewers were actually shaking their heads in disbelief at his claims.
Does anyone believe him anymore? The Motley Fool excoriated him recently as have many other respected real estate figures.
In the last 18-24 months, Mr. Lereah’s continued denial of reality transformed himself from Chief Economist into the legendary TV car salesman, Joe Isuzu.
As the public face of the NAR, Mr. Lereah became a liability and that’s why he was removed from that position.
Todd Tarson
My guess is that he is simply moving on.
I’m still waiting for the first potential client to come to me and say that they want to sell or buy because of something Lereah has said or written.
If it wasn’t for the bubble bloggers, and my time in leadership, I’d know a lot less about Lereah.
I kind of figure that his old position at NAR is a tough one. There is no such thing as a national housing market. Because of that I never really paid all that much attention. I’d rather listen to a more local economist (in my case someone from Phoenix or Las Vegas) for data sets that could actually affect the market I sell in.
NAS
Seems like one of the biggest rats that chewed away at the ship’s hull has jumped.
Perry
RI, that’s funny. Are you a secret spin doctor? Someone please post the press release when it comes out.
Mike Van H
There is a big glaring ‘aha’ that you guys are overlooking. Given his history of spinning the real state market into a false positive high, it would seem that him moving into a position where he will be able to spin and manipulate the public directly through a new real estate web site seems dangerous and very beneficial to his own ego. From the sound of it, the media has grown tired of his soundbites, and my guess is he is being called upon less and less as a viable source.
So what is a cheerleader to do? Cheer to the unknowing gullible crowd directly, instead of the team. So now, he is in a position to directly control, manipulate and infuence information presented on a web site that will help millions of people decide what market/city to move to. Has that thought crossed your head? Scary, actually.
BanteringBear
The shill comes clean:
“‘We’re in a real estate recession,’ said David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, who surprised many this week when he announced he would leave the Chicago-based trade group on May 19. ‘I’m projecting the first [nationwide] price drop since the Great Depression,’ he said. ‘We’re going to have negative home prices in 2007.’”
This underscores why people should NEVER listen to the NAR cheerleading. This guy has been calling the bottom and blowing smoke for months. Now, upon his ouster, he drops this gem. He has ZERO credibility. Someone should have promptly grilled him about his book “Why The Real Estate Boom Won’t Go Bust” subsequent to his pathetic utterance.
Kevin
Lereah was the interview guest on Bob Brinker’s Moneytalk today (Sunday, the 6th). I only caught a moment of it but today’s archive is available for ‘Moneytalk on the Go’ subscribers.