Southern California Housing Wipeout: Prices Plunge 27% or $135,000 in the past 12 months

For those of you keeping score at home, THAT'S $370 PER DAY OR $11,250 A MONTH!

Should have rented... Should have listened to HP, and not a realtor on commission..

Thank you Lawrence Yun.

Thank you David Lereah.

Thank you Leslie Appleton-Young.

Thank you Connie DeGroot.

Thank you Mike Norman.

Thank you Tom Adkins.

Thank you to the lying, deceitful, self-serving, ignorant and now ramen-eating and forever discredited army of six percenters.

You can all go home now (if you still have a home). Your services are no longer needed.

SoCal Home Prices Plunge 27% in May

Housing prices across Southern California plunged a record 27% in May, signaling that more trouble lies ahead for builders and lenders exposed to the region.

Sales volume in the market fell 15% from a year ago, marking the slowest May in more than 20 years, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The median price fell to $370,000 from $505,000 in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura.

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.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the wise words of Lawrence Yun, newly appointed "Senior Economist" of the National Association of Realtors

Tar and feathers anyone?

I was going to go (kinda) nice on the little guy. No more. Lawrence Yun is a discredited hack, spewing baldfaced lies for an evil organization, and perhaps even more pathetic (is that possible) than the discredited hack that came before him, our friend The Corrupt David Lereah.

Lawrence Yun and the National Association of Realtors are today the laughingstock of America. But sadly, nobody is laughing.

Here's the latest from Yun. And keep up to date with his BS over at http://lawrenceyunwatch.blogspot.com

Consumers are hearing a lot in the media about the correction in housing, and they’re understandably concerned about whether now is a good time to get into the housing market.

To a great extent, we can thank steady media coverage of the real estate market “correction” for unfounded consumer concerns.

If there’s a correction in markets today, it’s in home sales volume and housing starts, not in home prices.

Even a relatively large price decline, such as the 12 percent drop we saw in Sarasota, Fla., cannot reasonably be called a correction when that market had a 150 percent price increase during the boom.

You wanted it, you got it. Announcing "LawrenceYunWatch" and TCLY

David (from DavidLereahWatch and Bubblemeter) and I have put together Lawrence Yun Watch, a little tribute site to the new hack at the NAR (TCDL who?)

I do kinda feel sorry for the little guy - for all I know he's a nice guy, had a good education, just wants a paycheck. But at the same time, there are honest ways to make a living. Lying, deceiving, manipulating and distorting can't be high on the list of what people want to do with their short time on earth. Right?

Lawrence - if you're listening, it's not too late. Resign immediately, apologize for your lies, and throw the NAR under the bus. It would be a housing bubble seminal moment. You can do good in this life - the choice is yours.

Enjoy the new blog HP'ers. It's 100% Yun, 100% of the time. The more he yaps, the more we'll post. Got any TCLY gems post them here and on the BubbleTalk thread so we can get them up at lawrenceyunwatch. Here's one from last week:

As senior economist Lawrence Yun explained further, "... we see that the existing-home market is stabilizing in a broad cyclical trough and moving in the right direction, with a modest gain from the fourth quarter."

OK folks, time for a little street theatre. We're gonna send ramen noodles to Lawrence Yun at the NAR

You know the little guys are hurting - with home sales cratering, and realtors (and the NAR) completely discredited and disintermediated, it's time for...

The HousingPANIC "Realtors are People Too" Top Ramen Drive

Here's all you have to do

Pick up a few packages of ramen at your local store, and send 'em off to:

Lawrence Yun

National Association of Realtors

430 N Michigan Ave.

Chicago, IL 60611

Include a note "Keep up the great work Lawrence! Your lies and spin make us laugh every day! Love, your friends at HousingPANIC". Or just do your own thing. He'll get the point.

Post here if you've sent a package off, and I hope he finds a fair way to distribute the goodies to the 1.2 million hungry little guys. At least they'll get something for their NAR dues.