The reality behind NAR’s spin on home sales | Pound Ridge Homes

No matter what housing market conditions we are experiencing at any given time, one thing is as predictable as the sun rising and setting each day: The National Association of Realtors will say that “Now is a great time to buy or sell real estate.”

In Trey Garrison’s piece “4 charts show the phony thrill of existing home sales” appearing online in HousingWire on June 23^rd he wrote that NAR recently put out a news release announcing existing home sales were up 4.9% in May over the previous month.

He then gives graphic evidence through several charts that actually show when sifting through additional data, the NAR “good news” turns out to be no more than spin. Supporting that notion is his comment that although the May 2014 increase over April is happy news indeed, it is actually 5% below the figure of May 2013.

While this constant spinning is no surprise to anyone who has been in the housing business for as long as I have (30-plus years) and who has extensive experience in public relations, it should give one pause when trying to determine the true health of the housing market and overall economic conditions.

It is one thing for the Obama administration to continually put out misleading (at best) information trying to convince the American people that we are in the middle of not just a housing recovery, but an economic one as well when nothing could be farther than the truth, it is another when the private sector follows suit.

NAR, which has long been a distinguished organization, serves an exceptionally large constituency – Realtors across America.

And, yes, it is true that they would rather disseminate positive, encouraging information about why it may be desirable to buy or sell real estate to be supportive of their membership.