May 23, 2006

FLASH: Business Week interviews the Housing Bubble's Pinocchio

Here are some of the corrupt David Lereah's bizarre, misinformed and laughable quotes to Business Week.

Boy, this guy changes his tune every day, sometimes within the same session. I think what's happening is he's having a tough time staying "on message".

When you lie for a living, it's gotta be tough to keep track of the lies...

"We're going to drop significantly, but it's not a balloon bursting,"

"This is a soft landing for the housing markets."

"The demographic trends are wonderful"

"Everything still points to strong demand for home buying."

"If you go to Miami, Washington, Chicago, or Los Angeles, those are healthy economies, and they're not going to be affected by what happens in San Diego. "

"Prices are too high in San Diego because it's not an affordable city. The economy there isn't thriving, so it's hard to keep up there right now."

"I don't see the Fed taking rates up higher. They have to worry about the housing markets and the economy slowing too much. "

"I'm getting tired of all these doomsayers. We live in houses, and our houses are not going to crash. This isn't the stock market.... Local economies are relatively healthy. There's job creation -- this isn't a scenario where bubbles burst."

13 comments:

41cadillac said...

Robert I. Toll, chairman and chief executive officer, stated: ``Demand, while obviously diminished, has not disappeared. We believe many customers currently feel a lack of urgency to purchase due to their uncertainty over the direction of home prices: This has contributed to keeping many potential buyers on the sidelines.

``While the general economy remains healthy, the new home economy is beset by an oversupply of investor specs, builders' specs and specs created through buyer cancellations. We believe that once this excess inventory is absorbed, demand should once again exceed supply. This should increase customer confidence and improve perceptions of the market's health; then, we believe those buyers who have been on the sidelines will come back into the market and prices should start to rise again.

Anonymous said...

Yes, we live in houses, but at the end of the day, a house is just a collection of wood, bricks, glass and concrete, and is ultimately a liability. In places not affected by housing bubbles, houses are relatively cheap; see, e.g.,

http://www.realestate.com/axx/applications/mls/asp/homeview.asp?eh=6&homeid=15165374

Put this house in Long Island and I guarantee you it goes for at least $500,000.

Anonymous said...

we live in houses so the price can't go down, only up?

"we're going to drop significantly", but he's getting sick of the doomsayers?

seriously, this guy has lost his mind. no, really, he's crazy. He never made any sense, I thought because he was just corrupt, but I think it's because he's nuts too.

Anonymous said...

let's see - his paycheck and bonus is from the national association of realtors, and he's also a property speculator/investor

nah, no conflicts of interest there.

what a joke and it's a joke the msm goes to him for quotes at all, especially without questioning him on is statements.

Anonymous said...

Stop making fun of me!

Anonymous said...

WTF???!!!!

"The economy in San Diego is not thriving" ???

SD's unemployment rate is a mere 3.7%

WTF is DL talking about?

The problem is housing price growth (huge) vs. income growth (tiny).

Anonymous said...

He sounds a lot lot John F. Kerry. The real story is the economy is not on stable ground, in fact it's starting to crack up, with an underground of layoffs. The bull market is long in the tooth, inventory is building, soon you will have the perfect storm to push home prices back to 2001 levels.

People in Japan lived in their houses as well, it did not stop them from going down for 15 years.

Smart Grid blogger said...

Homes prices is akin to Stock Prices !!!

Why buy a home or catch a falling knife ?

Which means stay away from home buying due to falling home prices nowadays !!!!

Anonymous said...

The media should blackball David Lereah. He is going to make them all look like fools.

Anonymous said...

I am tired of the denial and outright lies in reports for Realtor Market conditions. Take a look at some bubble spots amd then look at what the reports have to say. They should be embarrassed and held liable for their false reports.

Anonymous said...

well put chet!

Anonymous said...

When a politician (or salesman) opens his mouth, he lies.

Fraudulent swine!

Anonymous said...

Hello Friend! I just came across your blog and wanted to
drop you a note telling you how impressed I was with
the information you have posted here.
Keep up the great work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!
If you have a moment, please make a visit to my stock market symbols site.
Good luck in your endeavors!