SeekingAlpha: "NAR's Lawrence Yun Continues to Mislead on Housing"

I believe it's time for Yun to step aside. Just another sad chapter from the National Association of REALTORS on COMMISSION.

Yun has ruined his life, at a young age. Never to be trusted again. Such a shame. But there's one way out Lawrence - TURN ON YOUR EVIL MASTERS. BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU. ADMIT TO THE CORRUPTION AND LIES. COME CLEAN.

Or not.

Special Note: Google/Blogger has locked down LawrenceYunWatch and we can't post. Yes, they have the power to do that for absolutely no good reason (or at the request of their REIC advertisers). We're currently "under review" which they say can take up to a month. If anything ever happens to HP, I'll relocate the blog to www.housingpanic.com. FYI.

Here's the anti-Yun editorial today over at SeekingAlpha:

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun continues to prove he's lost in the woods.

I'm sure most of you who have followed the real estate market recall his long list of ridiculous predictions. Do you remember when he claimed house prices would rebound in 2007? His quotes continue to supply stand-up comedians with new material.

One could reasonably argue that Yun is committing consumer fraud by trying to entice people to buy into a market that is poised to fall further. I suppose he thinks his ridiculous predictions will restore confidence in the real estate market. If in fact his role is to spread optimism, the NAR should be legally required to post an appropriate disclaimer stating their real purpose.

Lawrence Yun, Chief Propagandist of the NAR, finds himself in a hole and keeps on digging. And digging. And digging.

That's it. I've had enough.

FOLKS, LAWRENCE YUN IS EVEN WORSE THAN DAVID LEREAH. THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RAMEN EATERS SHOULD DISMISS THIS FOOL BEFORE HE DOES EVEN MORE DAMAGE.

Ah, screw it. He's the gift that keeps on giving. I hope he stays until they board up the NAR HQ. I hope he stays long enough to testify in front of Congress.

Here's Yun in economic collapse and housing crash ground zero Michigan, saying there's no recession, no contraction, and anyone who buys today is going to have huge equity gains in 2 years.

Amazing.

And to think the USAToday just named Lawrence Yun one of the most accruate economists in America. I guess there were only five economists in America.

Click on the graphic to see the detail

Thanks to David at bubblemeter and lawrenceyunwatch for putting this one together. Picture is worth 1000 bad forecasts...

WTF??!! Special from LawrenceYunWatch: USA Today Names Lawrence Yun as Top Economic Forecaster

Special HP guest post from David, my partner in crime over at LawrenceYunWatch. And no, this is not an April Fool's joke. It's the real deal. And The USAToday is now the biggest joke in print media.

Take a minute and send this post to the USAToday with your comments - just hit the little envelope sign below this post to forward it

To report corrections and clarifications, contact USAToday Reader Editor Brent Jones at 1-800-872-7073 or e-mail accuracy@usatoday.com

- Keith


The USA Today named Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors as its fifth top economic forecaster.

The National Association of Realtors(R) Chief Economist Lawrence Yun has been named among the top 10 economic forecasters by USA Today. Yun is ranked fifth on the list and is responsible for NAR's real estate statistics and economic forecasting. The annual list recognizes accuracy in forecasting.

I'm honored to be recognized among some of the best economists in the country," said Yun. "The economy and housing industry are facing many challenging issues at this time, which makes this an interesting and stimulating position

USA Today certainly did not do its homework. Have they read the Lawrence Yun Watch?

In September 2005 Yun predicted "The chance of a housing price decline in the DC area is close to zero, in my view. I anticipate that prices in DC will outpace the national average price growth. DC prices will rise at close to a 7 to 10 % rate of appreciation. "

As we know prices have declined significantly in the DC area since Yun's wrong prediction. According to the S&P Case Shiller Index, since September 2005 DC area prices have fallen 8.4%.Do not trust Lawrence Yun.

Yun even recently admitted that "It is also fine for people to point the finger at me. In a fast changing market conditions, I too have been off on my forecast."

The general public and media need to be aware of his spins, predictions that have proven very wrong, and his contradictory statements. Mr Yun is a paid spinner who has lost his credibility. The USA Today should be ashamed of its shoddy work.

Lawrence Yun and the NAR call on their paid poodles in Congress to give a $5,000 tax credit to any fool stupid enough to buy a house

Lawrence Yun is an idiot.

Now he wants to get housing demand flowing again (while stimulating realtor commissions of course) not by the traditional means of lowering prices, but by bribing buyers with a tax credit.

Here's a suggestion Lawrence - IT'S CALLED LOWER THE DAMN PRICES.

You want demand (and realtor commissions) to return? You might want to check out the relationship between demand and price. They taught you that in your Econ 101 class at Purdue, right? We know you read HP, so please brush up on your econ 101 here that Purdue must have failed to teach you. Glad we could help.

Folks, any sucker dumb enough to take a $5,000 government bribe to buy a depreciating debt-trap would be an even bigger idiot than Lawrence Yun. And that's saying something.

Oh, Yun says this would ONLY cost the US taxpayer $40 billion. What a deal!

Go ahead HP'ers - you take it from here.

What is most needed in the current point in the housing cycle is to get the home sales rolling.

There is plentiful pent-up demand. The difficult part is getting this demand unleashed into the marketplace, due the pervasive consumer pessimism related the housing market.

What is critically needed at this important point in the housing cycle is a measure to assuredly and quickly raise home buying activity. This can be accomplished by providing a homebuyer tax-credit. A nationwide $5,000 tax credit (the same amount currently in existence for homebuyers in Washington, D.C.) will cost the federal government $40 billion.

It's Lawrence Yun, the NAR and 1.2 million realtors against HousingPANIC and the truth

Bring it on Larry.

I like our odds.

You're hated, discredited, and seen as a liar and a joke. Your morally bankrupt organization put out lies and disinformation that led to millions losing everything, trillions in losses, and an economic meltdown. And your 6% minions represent the least trusted profession in America.

And we just tell it like it is.

Yun said media-fueled consumer anxiety has caused the real estate market to be slower than it should be given the job market, household wealth, relatively low mortgage rates and falling home prices.

"This is the battle we're fighting, the consumer confidence battle," Yun said. "(The information) is implying that clearly there is excessive pessimism in the marketplace."

Aren't liars kinda funny in a way?

FLASH: Sales of unwanted used homes crash 20% from last year (media reports 0.4% increase), Lawrence Yun again says things will be just fine

This is the infamous NAR report, not really worth our time, but thought you'd all like to know what Lawrence Yun and the Monkeys had to say today for sh*ts and giggles...

(note - I'm back in London now after a week of looking at an amazing sea of for sale signs in Arizona)

"Near term, existing-home sales should continue to hover in a narrow range, just as they have since September, and that's good news because it'll be a further sign that the housing market is stabilising," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

"Mortgage interest rates are near historic lows and the most current data shows decelerating price declines, along with a modest reduction in the number of homes on the market."

Lawrence Yun, the NAR's Chief Dip, says we're seeing just a "blip", blames the media in a bizarre rip

I'm tired of this guy's lip. But here's a tip: Using a realtor is one big gyp.

You would think Yun and the NAR have no understanding of the credit implosion happening all around them. You would think they still don't understand that the Great Housing Ponzi Scheme was just a fraud-propelled free-for-all that is now unwinding. You would think they don't know about the SIVs and CDOs and failing banks.

You would think.

Media coverage of housing trends faulted

Media coverage of housing trends often gives the impression that the market is worse off than it really is, according to the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

Lawrence Yun, in presentations Wednesday to Kansas City area real estate agents, said the media’s biggest mistake was too much reporting on nationwide real estate trends. National trends alone, he said, don’t apply to many parts of the country, and reporting of them usually lacks perspective.

A more accurate perspective, he suggested, was that this year’s down market was merely a blip in the long-term growth of housing prices in the area and elsewhere. He said anyone who has owned a home for more than a couple of years has seen good housing appreciation overall.

So Lawrence Yun, the discredited "chief economist" of the NAR, reads HousingPANIC and LawrenceYunWatch. OK, we have a message for him...

This is gonna be a bit direct, so sorry HP'ers, but it is deserved, and it is our responsibility:

LAWRENCE YUN, GO F*CK YOURSELF.

Shall I go on? Ok.

Lawrence Yun, you go to work every day and do evil. You help ruin lives. Your parents are likely ashamed of you. Your college professors wonder where they went wrong.

Just stop. Be a man. Quit the NAR tomorrow. Come clean. You'll make MILLIONS by doing the right thing, turning against the evildoers at the NAR, versus the thousands you're making today on their leash. You'll be the star of the 2008 Senate Hearings (instead of "I'll take the fifth"). You'll do your family proud. You'll regain your humanity. You'll do good.

Or not.

Seriously, Lawrence, life is too short to be a stooge, a pawn, a hack, a conman, a liar. Life is too short to be the paid shill of the most evil and disrespected organization in America today. Life is too short to spin lies for realtors. Life is too short to be Lawrence Yun. I truly want you to see the evil you're doing in your life, and step away from the dark side. Seriously, Lawrence. Join the forces of good. Send me a note. Quit your job. Be a man.

Meanwhile, HP'ers, here's the latest evil-doing from the man himself, care of Diana's blog at CNBC, followed by his lies to the media earlier today. God, I hope this person finds truth, reason and a sense of purpose. What hell it must be to be Lawrence Yun. Please join me in sending your personal messages to Lawrence Yun, and his masters at the NAR.

Lawrence Yun: "I'm glad we are living in a free society where we have the right for the bloggers to blog and have fun at it. So it's great that people can blog.

In terms of the forecast, we have revised down our forecast based upon all the fresh information that arrives in the latest month and as a result we think it's responsible to modify the forecast incorporating new information.

We have revised down our forecast by, I believe, by 8 straight months according to some bloggers. I have never kept track of it. I just try to make the most accurate forecasts, but because of this information I have been tracking the blue chip forecast on the housing starts, they don't have a forecast for the home sales, but on the blue chip which is comprised of Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and many others, and they have revised down their housing forecasts for 20 straight months.

The fact that NAR is getting a lot of publicity, that's all good for us that people are paying attention to what we are saying, but just factual information, I think everyone from Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs they are revising down their housing market forecast."

And here's the infuriating lies and disinformation Lawrence Yun was forced to put out by the NAR earlier today:

As bleak as the data are, the fundamentals of the market don't support a further decline in sales, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, who said low mortgage rates and job growth should keep sales from falling. While the subprime mortgage market has disappeared, the Federal Housing Administration is picking up its lending.

"I don't anticipate any further major sales declines," Yun said. However, the NAR didn't anticipate the sales declines of the past two years, and it's been predicting a bottom nearly every month since early 2006.

If sales do continue to fall because of negative market psychology aided by "sensationalized" news reporting, "it would be a major concern" and "would raise the risk of an economic recession," Yun said.

FLASH: NAR Pending Home Sales report plummets to all-time low. In related news, Lawrence Yun has his resume all over monster.com

Some days ya gotta feel sorry for the paid monkeys at the NAR. "We've hit bottom - it's a great time to buy or sell a house and pay a realtor a 6% commission" they'll say.

And then the numbers come out and prove that they're discredited monkeys that nobody believes anymore (except idiots in the MSM of course who allow them to spin unchecked)

Pending home sales at record low - Realtors report shows sharp drop in homes under contract, as mortgage lenders shut off financing needed to close deals.

The meltdown in the mortgage market in August dried up the supply of buyers for homeowners looking to sell their homes, as an industry group report showed the lowest level of homes under contract on record.

"Fewer contracts were being written because of mortgage availability issues, and a separate internal survey of our members shows more than 10 percent of sales contracts fell through at the last moment in August, primarily the result of canceled loan commitments," said a statement from Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the group. "The volume of activity we're seeing today is below sustainable market fundamentals because some creditworthy people are trying to buy homes but can't because of the credit crunch."