David Lereah, the most discredited economist in world history, finally admits housing crash going to get worse, expects US home values to plummet 20%

No, this is not a joke.

David Lereah, the thoroughly discredited former Chief Cheerleader for the evil National Association of realtors, publisher of the hilarious comedy "Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust", and pinata for this blog among others, has come out of his self-imposed hole.

Hey, a guy has to make a living somehow, right?

So Lereah has these gems in Newsweek - and no, THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

"We're not at the bottom," he says. "[People] want it to be near the bottom, but we're not there yet. The leading indicators are still very bad. Pending home sales are still in bad shape. Mortgage applications are low … There's still supply out there in abundance … This thing is going to get worse before it gets better."

"We're probably going to end up with a 20 percent [decline], but if I'm wrong it will be even more than that"

"I didn't think this would turn into an all-out bursting of a balloon for the whole nation"

"That (lending) got so out of hand, and none of us realized the magnitude of it until it was too late."

Go ahead HP'ers. Destroy this man. Unload with both barrels. Until we get a sincere apology from Lereah for the destruction and pain he's caused, and a complete and total repudiation of his former employer the National Association of Deceptive Used Home Sellers and his replacement stooge Lawrence Yun, he's still fair game.

And for the idiots calling bottom, when the former Chief Housing Cheerleader FINALLY comes out of his hole to admit how horrifically, historically wrong he was, how bad it is, and how bad it's gonna get, any sane person should understand that when it comes to home prices, WE'RE NOWHERE NEAR BOTTOM.

Pick the new HP name for the National Association of REALTORS (NAR)

1) National Association of Used House Salesmen (NAUHS)

2) National Association of Homedebtor Entrapment Officers (NAHEO)

3) National Association of Liars, Conmen and Thieves (NALCT)

4) National Association of Failures and Life's Losers (NAFLL)

5) National Association of Six Percenters (NASP)

6) National Association of Ramen Eaters (NARE)

7) ?????

Someone tell me how the MSM buys the NAR spin that "home sales are bottoming" and only down 4%. Look at this chart. A historic crash is underway.

At what point does the MSM (and the US Homedebtor) realize they've been had?

Hat-tip to doom for the chart. Picture is worth 100000000000000000000 NAR words...

And a special message for Larry Yun and the NAR: PEOPLE AREN'T BUYING YOUR BULLS*IT ANYMORE. And for heaven's sake, why the f*ck is the "Senior Economist" of the NAR also its spokesperson? Don't they have budget for a PR flak?

National Association of realtors Press Release:
For more information, contact:
Walt Molony, 202/383-1177, wmolony@realtors.org

August Existing-Home Sales Fall on Temporary Mortgage Problems

WASHINGTON, September 25, 2007 - Existing-home sales fell in August when mortgage availability problems were peaking, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – were down 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.50 million units in August from a level of 5.75 million in July, and are 12.8 percent below the 6.31 million-unit pace in August 2006.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, expected the decline. “The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through,” he said. “Lower sales contributed to a buildup of unsold inventory.”

Yun expects similar results for home sales in September. “Once we get through these disruptions, we’ll get a better sense of where the actual market is in late fall as conditions begin to normalize,” he said.

NAR Pending Home Sales falling off a cliff, and an epic, historic housing crash is now fully underway

The NAR can try to spin and lie as hard as they can, but there comes a point folks, like when the water was coming over the bow on the Titanic, when people realize it's all over, and now the rush to the lifeboats begins.

Folks, you are witnessing a housing crash of historic proportions. You will tell your grandkids about this time one day. The gears are starting to lock up now. The center is not holding. And a chain reaction meltdown is fully underway.

I hope you've found your lifeboat. Better hurry, they're getting pretty crowded.

Hat-tip to the excellent housingdoom blog for the chart and truth.